Anyone that has had a web meeting with Josh and accidentally seen his Gmail account, usually asks... "How do you get your gmail setup like that?". Well, it all starts with the Labs settings. In this tutorial, Josh will walk you through the Labs that he thinks are the essentials to any Gmail power user. Enjoy

We have a saying here at Spike that "Content isn't just King... It's EVERYTHING."

Fresh relevant content about your company, products and services is absolutely vital, yet a few of our clients opt to try a crack at writing their content themselves in an effort to cut costs and save money. After all, it looks easy, you have a high school diploma, spell checker and samples of what other people or competitors are using right?

In an effort to help out our DIY clients speed up the process of copy-writing. I found this super simple exercise to be very helpful. It snaps writer's block and stops you from being to long winded.

I am going to keep the F-BOMBs out since some of you reading this might have it blocked at work and I also don't want to make my Mom mad if she reads it. But it is important to note that when you go through this exercise, that you absolutely make sure you use the F-BOMB. Otherwise it loses it's effect.

Since content is what makes up your marketing messages, website, brochures, and other collateral, it is important to get to the point and let your audience know exactly what you want to convey.

You probably already have some good keywords or adjectives or standard sayings that you use when describing your company, product or service. You can probably say to someone what it is you do, who you are, or why they should buy your product or service. But when you try to put that down on paper you type to much, go off on tangents, and find it hard to get to the point.

THE EXERCISE:

Take the subject you want to write about, put it in your mind's eye. Next picture a teacher, drill instructor, football coach or some other type of person that you have a love/hate relationship with. Now imagine them walking up to, puffing up their chest getting right in your grill and screaming...

"What the F@$K are you trying to say?"

"What the F@$K does it do?"

"Who the F@$K are you?"

"Why the F@$K should I buy it?"

"When the F@$K is the event?"

"Where the F@$K do I go?"

You get the point. This list can go on and on.

Make sure when you answer, you are screaming right back. Screaming is the only way I have found it to work. You'll be amazed at how much simpler and to the point the answers become. This is where you should begin with your writing and only add to your answers when necessary.

Take it a step further and call your Google Voice number and record your answers so you don't even have to type the bulk of it. To see how to do that go here

Ohhh... it should also be noted that you will crack up laughing at yourself when you do this, it's just part of the process.

Have fun with it.