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<title>How to Create a Poor Publication - Six Ways to Brand Yourself As an Amateur</title>
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<h1>How to Create a Poor Publication - Six Ways to Brand Yourself As an Amateur</h1>

Whether you're selling a product, service or building web site
traffic, creating a web-based or print publication will help build
your subscriber and customer base. A well-designed, well written
communication will inspire, motivate and attract repeat customers.
Unfortunately, a poorly designed one can have the opposite effect.
There are plenty of professional looking ebooks, magazines,
newsletters and ezines available for your customers to subscribe to
or purchase. Using some of the tips below will help you portray a
professional image and retain a loyal audience.

1. Make sure you use amateur logos and art.
 The first thing people see is the artwork that portrays you
as a company or publication. Creating your own logo or cover may
seem like a cost-saving idea, but in the long run your first
impression will brand itself with your customers. Invest in an
image or cover that leaves a lasting mark of quality, even if you
do the rest of the work in-house. If price is an issue, research
designers and see if you can barter in whole or in part, or pay on
an installment plan.

2. Don't bother checking grammar.
 Unfortunately there are many common grammatical errors that
have made their way into common usage. You won't find them in
professional publications, though, so do your homework and make
sure you don't slip into making mistakes in grammar that will make
you look like an amateur. One of the most common errors is using
"I" instead of "me".
To make sure you use the right pronoun, ask if "I" am doing
something or is something being done to "me."
 Examples:
 My partner and I are writing an ebook.
 My assistant gave the subscriber list to me.
The first one is "I" while the second one is "me" because in the
first case, "I" am doing something: writing an ebook. While in the
second sentence, my assistant is doing something to "me": giving a
subscriber list.
A good way to check is to take the other person out of the
sentence and see how it sounds with both pronouns. You wouldn't
say, "She's going with I" when you remove the other person out of
this sentence - "She's going with my partner and me". One other "I"
rule: always address the other person first in a sentence. Example:
"My client and I are editing her article together." For some
excellent grammar tips, visit
proofreadnow.com/grammarrules.html

3. Don't proof your copy.
 Besides grammatical errors, typos and misspellings will make
you look less than professional. If you're the author, make sure
that you have another person proofread your copy as your eyes can
skip over the same mistake a multitude of times. This is one of
those instances when you are too close to the forest to see the
trees. If there are other writers involved in your project, trade
articles for proofing.

4. Make sure you leave narrow margins.
 White space has a purpose. It lets the eyes "rest" between
articles, paragraphs and sentences, and it clearly organizes and
separates your content visually on a page. A wider border on each
side will make it easier for readers to navigate your content. An
important consideration if you have a print publication is to
discuss your layout with your printer or bindery person ahead of
time. Even if you're doing the printing yourself, a professional
bindery will fold, staple and then trim the outside edge of your
magazine or booklet, so a generous margin becomes even more
important.

5. Use lots of different fonts, type sizes and ignore
typography rules.
 One thing you'll find in professional magazines and
newsletters is a consistency in typestyle and size. It's all right
to use some artistic fonts for story and article headings, but
fonts and sizes that change from story to story are unprofessional
and difficult for the reader. Yes, this may mean you either have to
expand your number of pages, or edit an article to a shorter
length, but it will produce a look of quality to your print
materials. If you already know about how much space you'll have to
work with, create some dummy copy and then use a Word processing
program to give you a word count and convey that to your
contributors.
While you're at it, make sure you proof for too many hyphenated
words. Professional ads use no hyphenated words. The rule of thumb
on longer articles and stories is to limit them to not more than
two lines in a row. Use Shift&gt;Enter and create a line break if
your next word wants to hyphenate. Watch those exclamation marks
too! Let your statements give the needed emphasis, or consider
using an italicized word or phrase to make a point instead. And by
all means, if you go ahead and decide to use an exclamation mark,
remember that professional pieces won't have more than one!!!

6. Make sure you use WordArt, dark backgrounds and fuzzy
graphics.
 Programs like Publisher give you the ability to make some
cool effects with your text, like gradient screens and shadowed
texts. Resist the urge. Clean, crisp headings are much cleaner and
expert looking. If you're breaking up your copy by placing it in a
colored or grayscale box or column, make sure that your text is
readable. If using darker shades, change your text to white or a
light color to give it more contrast.
When printing a publication, do you see a small halo of pixels
around graphics? This ragged look often happens when you're using
low resolution images. Make sure that you're using art or photos in
200-300 dpi, and preferably CYMK colors for printing. If you're not
sure how to make those adjustments yourself, ask a designer for
help. There are many graphic conversions that take little time or
money, but will add a statement of quality to your overall
look.
You may be a small business, but your materials don't need to
reflect that. Using these tips will help you communicate to your
audience that you're a business that embraces professionalism and
quality throughout.

<div>Author Info 
Anne Goodrich provides professional graphic design services for
small business owners, non-profit entities and work-at-home parents
through her business web sites at 
<a target="_new" href="http://www.GoodrichDesign.net">http://www.GoodrichDesign.net</a>
and 
<a target="_new" href="http://www.PearlsandGrace.net">http://www.PearlsandGrace.net</a>
</div>

Article Source: <a href="http://www.innoarticles.com" title="Your #1 Source For Quality Articles">InnoArticles.com</a>
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