Features vs. Benefits - The Writers For Hire

COPYWRITING 101: FEATURES VS. BENEFITS A good copywriter can instantly identify the difference between a feature and a benefit. Unfortunately, its not uncommon for that difference to get a bit fuzzy in web copy. So, how do features differ from benefits. †¢ Features physically describe what your product or service entails. It might mean a watertight seal, 24-hour service, or 8 GB of RAM. Whatever the case may be, features are the things that make your product or service unique. †¢ Benefits, on the other hand, explain how the feature is useful or beneficial to the customer. Your copy about benefits should help potential customers answer questions like â€Å"why do I need 8 GB of RAM?† or â€Å"how will your 24-hour service help my business?† So, when you’re writing, which do you want to put more emphasis on? The answer is that both features and benefits are very important, but you need to spend more time explaining your benefits. By explaining benefits – and how each benefit affects your customers – you are essentially educating and persuading your customer at the same time. Basically, a feature without a benefit is nothing. When explaining the benefit of your feature, your copy needs to be targeted to your specific audience, to clearly and concisely give readers major insights into the product. One way I like to explain a feature in copy is to lay it out plain and simple. For example: â€Å"Company X’s widget has a glow-in-the-dark dial (FEATURE). This means that  our widget is perfect to use at night and to take with you on camping trips (BENEFIT).† One of my favorite phrases to use is â€Å"this means that,† because it lets you directly translate the benefit of your feature. Another way to help separate features and benefits is to use a chart. You can do this as a preliminary brainstorming exercise to organize your thoughts before you write, or just paste it up on your website as a great visual aid: Feature On-call industry experts Benefit With over 70 years of combined experience, our expert advice helps you solve software issues in minutes. Feature 24-hour service Benefit No matter what time it is or where you are in the world, there’s always someone available to help you troubleshoot  technical issues. Effective copy will clearly outline the features and benefits of whatever you’re selling – and it will convince the customer to buy at the same time. Rev up your homepage, brochure, sales emails, and other marketing collateral by making sure that both your features AND benefits are clearly oriented toward your customers. And, if you’ve got any tips or thoughts about features and benefits, leave a comment and let me know!

Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X Essays - Community Organizing

Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X Essays - Community Organizing Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X grew up in different environments. King was raised in a comfortable middle-class family where education was stressed. On the other hand, Malcolm X came from and underprivileged home. He was a self-taught man who received little schooling and rose to greatness on his own intelligence and determination. Martin Luther King was born into a family whose name in Atlanta was well established. Despite segregation, Martin Luther King?s parents ensured that their child was secure and happy. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 and was raised in a completely different atmosphere than King, an atmosphere of fear and anger where the seeds of bitterness were planted. The burning of his house by the Klu Klux Klan resulted in the murder of his father. His mother later suffered a nervous breakdown and his family split up. He was haunted by this early nightmare for most of his life. From then on, he was driven by hatred and a desire for revenge. The early backgrounds of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were largely responsible for the distinct different responses to American racism. Both men ultimately became towering icons of contemporary African-American culture and had a great influence on black Americans. However, King had a more positive attitude than Malcolm X, believing that through peaceful demonstrations and arguments, blacks will be able to someday achieve full equality with whites. Malcolm X?s despair about life was reflected in his angry, pessimistic belief that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience. King basically adopted on an equality philosophy, whereby he felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Malcolm X, however, promoted nationalist and separatist doctrines. For most of his life, he believed that only through revolution and force could blacks attain their rightful place in society. Both X and King spread their message through powerful, hard-hitting speeches. Nevertheless, their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes. "King was basically a peaceful leader who urged non-violence to his followers. He travelled about the country giving speeches that inspired black and white listeners to work together for racial harmony." (pg. 135, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Movement) Malcolm X, for the most part, believed that non-violence and integration was a trick by the whites to keep blacks in their places. He was furious at white racism and encouraged his followers through his speeches to rise up and protest against their white enemies. After Malcolm X broke away from Elijah Mohammed, this change is reflected in his more moderate speeches. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King?s childhoods had powerful influences on the men and their speeches. Malcolm X was brought up in an atmosphere of violence. During his childhood, Malcolm X suffered not only from abuse by whites, but also from domestic violence. His father beat his mother and both of them abused their children. His mother was forced to raise eight children during the depression. After his mother had a mental breakdown, the children were all placed in foster homes. Malcolm X?s resentment was increased as he suffered through the ravages of integrated schooling. Although an intelligent student who shared the dream of being a lawyer with Martin Luther King, Malcolm X?s anger and disillusionment caused him to drop out of school. He started to use cocaine and set up a burglary ring to support his expensive habit. Malcolm X?s hostility and promotion of violence as a way of getting change was well established in his childhood. Martin Luther King lived in an entirely different environment. He was a smart student and skipped two grades before entering an ivy league college at only the age of 15. He was the class valedictorian with an A average. King paraded his graduation present in a new green Chevrolet before his fellow graduates. He was raised in the perfect environment where dreams and love were generated. King and X?s childhoods are "a study in polarity." (pg. 254, Reflecting Black) Whereas, Malcolm X was raised in nightmarish conditions. King?s home was almost dream-like. He was raised in a comfortable middle-class home where strong values natured

Aristocrats should help the poors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aristocrats should help the poors - Essay Example I completely agree with this statement since the rich have enough money to survive any crises, in other words their money deposit and storage allows them to do this. But those people who depend greatly on their monthly salaries and wages lose everything with their jobs. They have no big deposits as well as no securities capital and that is why crisis struck the poor first of all. But the author focuses not on the poor but rather on the middle class since it is the main constituent of the successful economy. It is no way a secret that the world crisis started from the USA, where â€Å"the fat cats† (Herbert ) as the author calls them didn’t manage to cope with the mortgage sphere. Let’s remember the flourishing USA: a happy middle class with a quite high annual income that can afford having a house, a car, and several children and to be in easy circumstances. With the great rate of unemployment people have no money even for food, to say nothing of a car, and rent. As time approaches to Christmas the situation becomes even more unjust and obvious. â€Å"Even as millions of out-of-work and otherwise struggling Americans are tightening their belts for the holidays, the nations elite are lacing up their dancing shoes and partying like royalty as the millions and billions keep rolling in†. (Herbert, 2010 p.1 ). By saying this the author wanted to show that the middle class has to refuse something in order to cherish the tradition of gifts giving, while the rich of the country even are not ashamed of throwing parties and pretending to be more modest. The most offensive thing is that those in power and with money just ask the nation to stand the tough times. â€Å"So here we have the billionaire and the millionaire telling the poor and the struggling - the little people - that they will just have to make do with less.† (Herbert, 2010 p.1). It would be funny, if it wasn’t the real life. The nation can do without some things but it cannot do without the

Electronic and Mobile Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Electronic and Mobile Commerce - Essay Example Today, managing an online business is much easier than managing conventional businesses because various legal and economic factors affect the progress of conventional businesses. The shift towards online businesses is based on multiple factors some of which include complex legal requirements in starting conventional type businesses, decreased rate of employment, and rapidly progressing economy. The rate of unemployment is increasing in every part of the world these days and the salaries are also not big enough to meet daily expenses of life. Therefore, along with the move of established companies towards mobile commerce, more and more individuals are also focusing towards internet businesses in order to earn a respectable income. Considering these benefits of online businesses, almost every big or small company aims to make an online presence. Let us now discuss what established companies need to do more to make a shift towards mobile commerce. ... earching the functional cope of required initiatives, they need to work out the sustainability features of all benefits that they may get from shifting towards online business. The last step is to prioritize the initiatives in order to develop a proper mobile commerce strategy regarding what to be done and in which sequence. Technology, service, market, and brand are four key positional factors that companies need to analyze while developing a successful mobile commerce strategy (Watson, Berthon, Pitt, & Zinkhan, 2008). Having discussed the plan for established companies to shift towards mobile commerce, let us now discuss some main components that play the most significant and primary role in running an online business successfully. 1. Internet Internet is the main component of mobile commerce without which the aim of running a business online cannot be achieved. Internet helps companies in reaching international markets, as well as in introducing products to a broad range of local and foreign customers. At present, internet has become one of the extensively used technologies that companies use to reach success in a very short span of time. Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, and Groupon are some of the main examples of companies that have achieved a reputable name in online business sector. 2. Website Website is another main component of mobile commerce. A company aiming to go online needs to develop a well-organized and fully functional website to make people aware of its products and services. A good website plays the role of a stepping-stone towards the success of a company because it is the only way people can view the business and products of the company. A website not only makes customer aware of a company’s business but also serves as a key marketing agent for

Summary paper on book 1 free choice of the will by Augustine of hippo Essay

Summary paper on book 1 free choice of the will by Augustine of hippo - Essay Example On the other hand, those who do evil and sin but are God’s chosen, are not going to be punished because they still remain saved, regardless of their behavior. Augustine persists that wrongdoing is a substance of free will at its cause, where he sounds sensible and is the least uncertain. He further stresses this by detaching wrongdoing from God’s cause. All what is God-made is good according to Augustine, and for that reason, he says god cannot be the cause of evil. He argues that evil is committed in the act of free will of humanity, and adds that it can also be in free will of angles, but not God. On the other hand, his persistence about Gods actions of good will being by God’s grace seems to disagree with his own affirmation on choice of free will. While God should not be the one to blame for wrong doing, God is given all the praise and glory for good, despite the bad deeds committed by those who have done things according to the good will. Therefore, people should be blamed for the bad things they do and cause, but do not deserve any recognition for whatever good they do. According to Augustine, people’s capability to operate according to their own free will has been seriously weakened by the obsession and desires. They lack the strength to control their needs, so they are controlled and driven by lust. Augustine believes that lust is one of the biggest sin of all and that it troubles very many people, who end up giving in to it readily and gladly. This is proof of the weakness of free will. Where Augustine makes outstanding points on the way flesh desires directly disagreeing with the spirit, the way he argues that we behave in good manner by God’s grace is in direct disagreement with his persistence that evil is a deed of free will. If we are made good by God, then why cannot the devil be the cause to sin, when we act badly? As Augustine insists that we as human beings have free will, it means we are responsible for the bad

Computer Technology In The Movie Industry Film Studies Essay

Computer Technology In The Movie Industry Film Studies Essay Filmmaking is a process of producing a film based on a storyline. Although many people say, a movie is good if it has a successful plot, however, a movie needs also good production in order to be classified as a good movie. The history of filmmaking can be traced back to as early as the 17th century, where magic lanterns were used. Back then, films were all made in shades of black and white only. Also, many of the times, special effects are done manually by workers. For example, an explosion, many workers will be needed to install those explosives and to clear up the scene. As time progressed, technology improved the quality of films largely, thus producing colored films. However, such improvements do not halt there. Movie makers and producers worked endlessly to create films that leave people in awe. Therefore, the creations of computer-generated imagery, animation and 3D have been invented and improved. Such creations have moved the movie industry one step forward. Using the same explosion example, compared to last time, with advance computer technologies, such a scene will not require a whole lot of work from the workers. Instead, it can be easily done in the editing room, where editors can easily ad d special effects into the movie, making it look realistic, but without much hard work. The main objective of this paper is to educate people about the movie making industry. Many people may be awed when they see sophisticated scenes in movies. However, they only know that those scenes are mostly done with the help of computers. But in reality, there are so many computer technology that the people do not know about. In the discussion in this paper, research will explain the computer technologies used in the movie industry. Computer-generated imagery, animation and 3D will be explained as brief introduction to technologies in the development of movie making. Also, the making of the movie sensation, Avatar will also be revealed. As videos are getting more attention amongst people nowadays, many people now search ways to create their own videos. Therefore, to make this paper more users friendly, an introduction of animation software, Pencil and moviemaking software, Windows Movie Maker will also be done. COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY (CGI) Computer-generated imagery means computer graphics being applied into movie industry to create special effects. Compared to other physical means, CGI is a cheaper alternative because it uses computer software to create images instead of constructing real and physical settings. The first ever movie that used computer-generated imagery was Westworld in year 1973. It was a science fiction that incorporate both robots and humans. Also, famous movies like Star Wars and Star Trek II were also able to produce effects like laser guns and robot motion. In the Terminator, computer-generated imagery created digital scenes in the robot. CGI, especially in two dimensions was greatly used in traditional animated films as it replaced the role of manually illustrated cells. Since then, it became a significant technology used to create special effects in the movie industry. This then promoted and encouraged the great usage of animation and three dimensions (3D). Usually, CGI for films are about 1.4 to 6 megapixels, where one frame is generally around 2 to 3 hours long which can multiple to ten times for more complex scenes. Computer-generated imagery was also used in created the film Star Wars. ANIMATION Animation is a series of images in the form of two dimensional or three dimensional art work that are display rapidly to produce an illusion of movement. The earliest animation said to be found is the Paleolithic cave paintings. In these paintings, objects are drawn in superimposed positions that clearly try to convey the idea of motion. However, in year 1906, J. Stuart Blackton, a newspaper cartoonist, released the first ever fully animated film, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. The Paleolithic cave painting shows movement in an animation way. There are many types of animations that can be used in making a movie. The traditional animation, which is also known as cell animation or hand drawn animation, was broadly used in the 20th century. This involves many individual frames first drawn on papers that differ a little from the previous. These frames are then photocopied onto transparent sheets called cells, which can be photographed by a rostrum camera to produce motion. Classic Disney animated films like Snow White and Aladdin are produced using this technique. Traditional animation is manual and is drawn in multiple frames. As computer generated imagery (CGI) is used increasingly, animation can be done by using computers. The first entirely computer-generated animated film is Toy Story, in year 1995. Computer animation simply means creating moving objects by using programs or software designed for computers. Consequently, this has caused the invention of two dimensional (2D) animations. Figures are created and edited using two dimensional bitmap graphics or two dimensional vector graphics. However, trained professionals are required to produce animations like this as it involves techniques and skills. Toy Story, the first fully computer-generated animated film. THREE DIMENSIONAL (3D) Three dimension computer graphics are graphics which use three dimensional representation data geometrically. These graphics will then be stored to calculate and render two dimensional images. These graphics often use many algorithms to generate images. A typical two dimensional image would only show height and width. However, a three dimensional image could show height, width and even depth. This gives the idea of realistic instead of virtual. Animation can also be done in three dimension. An animator can use the digital skeletal structure to control the mesh. Besides that, mathematical functions can also be used to created three dimensional animation. 3D, or stereoscopic 3D uses the illusion of the depth perception to create realistic images. It can be produced using few methods. In an anaglyph, two images are located at a superimposed position with a light filtering two colors, red and cyan. By wearing the 3D glasses, the two images are cancelled out to produce only one image. That is the earlier 3D images used in movie making. An anaglyph image. A pair of anaglyph 3D glasses. In the polarization systems, similarly, two images are located at a superimposed position through different polarizing filters. By wearing a pair of glasses that contain polarizing filters, each filter can only pass through similar polarized light but blocks different polarized lights, causing each eyes to see different images. A polarized 3D image. Polarized 3D glasses. HOW WAS AVATAR MADE? The Avatar has successfully created a sensation amongst movie lovers with its breathtaking three dimension technology. James Cameron, the director of the movie incorporated the technology as well as real human footages into the movie. Computer-generated imagery was used extensively in the movie. He used a technique called the image-based facial performance capture, which required actors and actresses to put on special headgears called skull caps that were equipped with cameras. As the recording went on, facial expressions and movies were transmitted from the camera to the virtual characters. The movements caught on tape would be six times bigger, which created authenticity in the characters. By using such technology, the facial expressions of the characters can be made to change according to how the dialog was told. The motion capture technique that animated the expressions of the actor and actresses. To do that, a new software called the facial action coding system was created. This software can trace the visualization of facial and muscle movements of the actors and actresses, which can then be animated to created computer-generated images. The incorporation of computer-generated images into live action footages. 3D was also made easier by motion capture because it allowed film-makers to add special effects as well as direct the angle of camera in . The formats used were Real D 3D, Dolby 3D, Xpan 3D and IMAX 3D. With the help of a pair of polarized 3D glasses, the movie created another sensation to be viewers. Weta Digital was the visual effects company that worked for the movie. They used Linux-based software to created graphics that made the settings in the movie looked to realistic. The company used one of the worlds largest Linux clusters as the operating system, which produced computer-generated images using 64-bit for 3D modelling. The filming camera that gives the 3D effects. WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER Windows Movie Maker is a software that allows user to create and edit videos, thus creating homemade videos. The first ever version of Windows Movie Maker was available for Windows Me back in year 2000, which then followed by Windows XP in year 2001. Its development was then improved. Its so called replacement was then named Windows Live Movie Maker, which is included with the Windows Live Essentials. The new movie maker does not share the same features with the older version. However, the 2.6 version is compatible for both Windows Vista as well as Windows 7. Furthermore, this version is strongly recommended by many video editors as it is user friendly and easy to use but at the same time, produces high quality movies and videos. Windows Movie Maker has features like effects, titles or credits, timeline narration and auto movie. New effects can also be modified using the existing ones by using XML code, thus allowing users to create one of its kind videos. Besides that, an audio track editing is also available. Basic effects like fading in or fading out can be added. And then, the tracks can be saved in a sound file instead of a video file. In the window, there is a storyboard that previews the timeline for video and audio. Video or images can be imported into the timeline. When doing so, user can choose either to capture video directly from webcam or import from collections of existing videos. Videos and audios that are in .WMV/.ASF,  .MPG (MPEG-1),  .AVI (DV-AVI),  .WMA,  .WAV, and  .MP3 formats are accepted. However, other formats like MP4/3GP, FLV and MOV, MIDI, AIFF, AAC and SWF are not accepted. A window showing the first page of the program. A window showing the storyboard. Video clips or images can be dragged into these boxes to create a continuous movie. Editing videos and movies in Windows Movie Maker is a very rewarding process as it allows user to create and design the videos and movies in any way they want. The auto movie feature in the program contains premade editing styles which help users to create movies in a very quick period. However, if users choose to edit themselves, a total of 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 titles and 9 credit animations are available in the 2.x version. The effects and transitions that users can choose to use in order to increase the attractiveness of the movies. There are also other features like adding titles or credits into the movie. All these features can be found easily on the menu pane on the left of the window. Audio and sound effects can also be added into the movie easily through options on the menu pane. At the end, when the movie is all done editing, it is supposed to be saved. Then, it can be viewed from the computer. Besides that, the movie can also be uploaded into pocket pc like smart phones or PDA phones. It can also be uploaded back into a camera and DV recorder if the format is supported. The movie can also be sent to a website for the view of the public. PENCIL Pencil is a software for animation and drawing, which is supported by Mac, Windows and Linux operating system. It utilizes one of the most common animation method, the traditional animation which is done by drawing or sketching with a pencil. This program is great for amateur users because it is easy to use and user friendly. A screenshot of Pencil. This free drawing program is not equipped with many advance tools, but with simple toolbox that contain pencil, brush, eraser, and coloring tool. Although it seems to be simple, sophisticated 2D animation can be produced by just using these few tools. The toolbox that contains the tools for drawing. There is a timeline feature, where users are able to add layers. By saying layer, it simply means vector layer, audio layer as well as video layer. Besides that, it also allow users to use onion skinning, which enables users to check the previous and next frames to trace the animation. The default frame per second is set at 12, but this setting can be changed up to 50 FPS. The timeline feature that enables users to create different layers altogether. Besides drawing the animation in the program, sketches can be drawn on real paper and then imported into the program. To do so, the sketches can first be saved in the computer, and then imported onto the canvas, which then can be edited directly in the program itself. The camera layer enables users to create different frames through the usage of a camera. Audio can also be added into the animation, making it more interesting. As sounds and voices are essentials to animation, it can easily added into the animation by exporting music files from the computer. To do so, a sound layer is first created. The music files can be imported. The format that is supported is only WAV format on Windows OS. However, Mac users can import any formats that is readable by Quicktime. When the music file is imported, a triangular key appears, indicating where the music starts to play. A sound layer will not play if it is deactivated, which can be easily controlled by pressing the sound button in the timeline control. The feature that allows adding of sound layer. CONCLUSION It is undeniable that computer technology plays an important role in producing a good movie. We can see that as time progresses, computer technology also improves greatly. However, this does not mean that continuous research on this subject matter should stop here. In fact, such an achievement in this field simply means that producers and movie makers in the market should continue in creating breakthroughs in the industry. This is especially true because people will not be contented with what is in the market now if there is nothing new that appeals to them. The demand for more and better is always increasing. Therefore, it is pivotal to continue achieving for more. As for home users and non-professional users, there is actually much other software that allows them to create their own home videos. The market now realizes that the public can also be very good in creating home videos. Therefore, there is an increasing amount of movie making and animation software for the use of the public. Much of this software actually varies in difficulty as well as quality of products. However, it is confirmed that it allows users to create according to their creativity and that is what makes the videos one of its own. If users are having problem, they can easily obtain help from tutorials and forums that are available from the omnipotent Internet. Based on the research done on this paper, hopefully doubts and questions of many can be clarified. It is very crucial to educate people about the subject matter as it has blended into our lives and has become a part so close to us. There are some movies I can watch over and over, never get sick of. Ill put one of those on and be puttering around the house. Then a certain scene will come on and Ill just have to go over and watch. David Fincher

Music and Media Can Be Detrimental to Children :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Music and Media Can Be Detrimental to Children Parents will argue that other people are the reason their children are violent and usually take absolutely none of the blame, when in reality they should be taking a lot of the blame for violence among children. I believe media as a whole, including television, radio, movies, video games, news, etc, can be very detrimental to society and leads to a lot of this violence among children with which we are dealing. I was always taught what goes in your head has to eventually come out, so shouldn't you put in only good stuff? "Critics claim that music negatively affects teenagers by repeatedly exposing them to themes such as Satanism, substance abuse, murder, suicide, and sexual violence, which may be heavily reinforced and normalized by the frequency of their portrayal" ("Youth and Violent Music"). I think there are too many television shows that run between the hours of three and five in the afternoon, which is when most children watch television, that make violence their main theme. Also during those hours, there are music video countdowns playing on just about every channel to which you flip. The only things kids learn when they watch these videos is how to abuse their wives, how to shoot a gun at someone, how to violently deal with a bully at school, how to dress so sexy that all the boys will like them, etc. Kids idolize anyone on television, especially if they're a popular songwriter or singer. Most parents know that children imitate whatever they see and hear, so wouldn't you think if parents let them watch these over-sexy and violent videos that their children are going to want to look and act just like what they're watching on television? "Several major rap artists have been charged with violent crimes in real life, and many worry that their actions seeming ly condone the violent messages in their music. Their celebrity status also serves to glamorize their violent behavior" ("Youth and Violent Music"). There are many cases dealing with the death of one or more children due to them "trying-out" a move they watched on television that "look real cool". Even if there was only one case, that would be one too many for me not to think we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.