ant to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a GREAT press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. But wait!! I’m going to show you easy methods to make your press release work for you and get the attention it deserves. Ready? Let’s go.

We’ll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren’t set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar “10 second glance” says a lot for you and your business; it let’s them know if you’ve done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine.

Here are your essentials:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the top left of the page.

Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows.

Headline is next, normally in bold and centered on the page. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It’s that important.
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What is your attitude as a small town businessman when it comes to advertising or taking help of an advertising design agency to provide creative design solutions? I bet, more often than not it is on the lines of “What ever is left over, we’ll use for advertising”. Well, you are not alone. Most of the small town businessmen treat advertising as such, as they feel that they know most of their customers who will come back, advertising or not.

Fair enough, but what if you have a competitor within the town or even without in the form of E-commerce ensuring doorstep delivery and definitely much larger choice. You getting the point?

Competition or not, you always need to remind your customers that you are there and what value you bring to them. This way you not only ensure that loyal customers remain so, but you net new customers. Remember marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion. You advertise most when you need business. You advertise more when you don’t.
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Getting a break in film special effects is hard, but not as hard as you may think. The following ten things will go a long way to help you achieve your dream job.

1) Understand the Industry

If you want to work in special effects, it’s important not just to know the difference between a Stag (stagehand) and a Director, but know how special effects itself is divided up. Long gone are the days when Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts) would lock himself in a shed with a small team of people and do all the special effects himself. Now, everything is spread across different teams and departments. So, if you’re interested in sculpting sets and large monsters, you want to work as a film sculptor; if you’d prefer smaller more technical projects you’d be better off choosing the model unit.

2) Be a Realist

Working in the creative industry and particularly the film industry is not easy. You’ll often be faced with challenging projects and demanding deadlines and there’ll be dozens of different people waiting for you to finish so they can complete their own jobs. You’ll have to strike a balance between the time allowed and quality of what you produce; you can’t get too precious about your work. Not only that, you’ve got to promote yourself – all special effects artists are freelance and you’ve got to hunt down the jobs out there.

3) Study Art

Whether you’re self-taught or went to Art College, it is vital you have a keen interest in Art to work in special effects. If someone asks you to sculpt a life-size Roman-style Statute or an Egyptian sarcophagus it’s invaluable to have a point of reference in your own mind. But more important than this, it’ll make the job more enjoyable. You may be flicking through an art book over the weekend, and on Monday morning you’re asked to recreate one of the pieces you’ve been admiring.

4) Drawing

In the film industry all technical drawings are done by draughtsmen in the Art Department. So is this just padding to reach the magic ’10′ steps? No. If you want to create any 3D object, particularly the human form, it is vital to learn to draw and keep practicing. Sculptors regularly liken sculpting to drawing their subjects in clay from various angles. The key to good sculpture, like drawing, is defining the lines and shadows.

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One of the hardest presentations to make is the entrepreneurial pitch. You have a great idea for a business and you want someone to give you money to make it happen. The problem is that venture capitalists, angel investors, and even rich uncles are heavily predisposed against you. Why? Because 99% of the pitches they hear sound like sure-fire prescriptions to lose money!

If you are pitching investors to give you money for a new venture, you should subscribe to the following rules:

1. Explain exactly what your business is within the first thirty seconds. Many entrepreneurs waste valuable time giving loads of data, background and other info—all the while investors are left scratching their heads thinking “What does this business actually DO?”

2. Tell your audience who your customers will be. Paint a vivid, specific picture of these people.

3. Explain why your customers going to give you there hard-earned money.
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