Natural Health Copywriter

I've put together a list of eight tips so that you can write effectively.

First, reduce the effort your reader needs to understand you.

1.      Shorten sentences. A sentence is one idea. No more. No less.

2.      Remove meaningless and unnecessary phrases in sentences (e.g., redundancies and oxymorons).

3.      Deflate fat words. Remove prefixes and suffixes grafted onto shorter roots, and watch the words sparkle.

4.      Reduce negatives. Every negative inserts a layer of opaqueness. Multiple negatives increase the difficulties exponentially.

Second, improve energy levels. In writing, verbs determine the energy level. Keep those verbs moving!

5.   Eliminate the equations. Almost every use of the verb "to be" (e.g., "am," "are," "was," "were," "be," "been," "being") lowers the energy level of the sentence a bit. Equating verbs (e.g., "is") reduce the energy level to zero. Find the real action in the sentence, and turn that word into a verb.

6.   Activate the passives. Passive verbs create passive readers. But all passive verbs began life as active verbs. Increase energy and vitality by converting them back to active verbs.

Finally, give the reader's thought patterns a helping hand. Provide clear directions to point readers along their way.

7.   Lead with strength. Find the sentence, paragraph or illustration that will best grab and hold the reader's attention. Move it to the beginning.

8.   Tune up topic sentences. Start a new paragraph every time you shift to a new point of view and use the topic sentence to keep the thread of meaning flowing.

If you run out of time or energy, do only those steps that will most improve the text. It doesn't matter if you don't have time to do them all. Carrying out even one of the steps above will significantly improve your writing.

Print out the text. You'll never catch as many slips on screen as you will on paper. Do a final check for obvious errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

To your health!

Grace Cherian is a natural health copywriter. You may visit her website at http://www.gracecherian.com/.

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1. Make sure that every email you send out includes your personalized signature along with your tagline and Web site address. That email can become a traveling marquee for your company. Instead of writing www.yourcompanyname.com, use an action verb, i.e. Visit: www.yourcompany.com
2. Be sure you include your Web site address on your business card, e-stationery, printed stationery or anything you mail out. Check out http://www.cardstore.com  for a wonderful set of tools to keep in touch with prospects and customers.
3. Focus on genuinely helping people, and the rest will take care of itself. Do your best to help your visitors out of genuine concern for their well-being, and they’ll help you build your traffic. It’s as simple as that. Post your professional profile on LinkedIn. Join groups there that interest you or start one of your own. Offer your expertise by answering questions that people ask. People tend to do business with those who have helped them.
4. Make link friends. Choose companies who share your target market but offer non-competing products. Ask for a link exchange. Don't be afraid to make a new link friend. It's a win-win proposition. Your search engine rankings will become higher if you have more quality link friends.
5. Market yourself by writing articles. You can write your way into a prospect's heart. There are tons of article marketing and submission Web sites. Two of the more popular are www.ezinearticles.com and www.gotoarticles.com . Keep your articles concise and meaty. And, of course, always include your Web site address and tagline at the end of each article.

To your health!

Grace Cherian is a Toronto-based natural health copywriter who specializes in helping natural health practitioners promote their businesses through search engine optimization. You can visit her Web site at http://www.gracecherian.com

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Women in North America, educated about the harmful effects of synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT), are now becoming aware of the great benefits of natural hormone replacement therapy (NHRT) or Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), both of which are synonymous. For the purposes of this article, I shall use the term NHRT. Women in other parts of the world have known about NHRT for ages. Many women in Asia, and some Mediterranean and Latin American countries use NHRT instead of synthetics. And these women typically breeze through menopause. They report fewer hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, improved mental states and better sleep patterns. They also have less heart disease and breast cancer.

NHRT is a combination of human estrogens and natural human progesterone. HRT, on the other hand is a 'factory-made' estrogen, much of which is derived from horse estrogen and a man-made progesterone called progestin. The ratio of estriol to estrone and estradiol (all ingredients of estrogen) is different in NHRT which also includes DHEA (dehydropiandrosterone), which turns into a natural testosterone in the body to maintain a woman's sex drive.

Using NHRT can improve many bodily functions. It can promote bone formation, reduce joint pain and increase flexibility, improve skin condition and reduce sexual dysfunction symptoms such as painful intercourse, vaginal dryness and decreased libido. Women do better with human hormones rather than animal-derived hormones. Many studies show that the symptoms of menopause are better controlled with NHRT and it has fewer side effects. NHRT also dramatically protects women from heart disease and osteoporosis. There is a 'right' dose of NHRT for every woman so you may have to experiment with the triple estrogen ratios. A typical prescription for NHRT often contains 10% estrone, 10% estradiol and 80% estriol, mixed with 30 mg. of natural progesterone after menopause, and 10—30 mg DHEA, which should, but doesn't always, convert to testosterone. If it doesn't, your sex drive may remain low. In this case, you can discuss with your doctor the need to add a steroid to the mix of natural hormones.

Phytoestrogens, an alternative to HRT which is found in plant hormones has been used in Asian cultures for centuries to treat hot flashes. Many food sources, such as tofu and soy contain high concentrations of phytoestrogens. Japanese women, who have a high soy-based diet, report hot flashes about one-sixth as often as Western women. Breast cancer rates are dramatically lower in Japan than in the United States. Many experts believe this is because of the protective benefits of plant hormones.

To your health!

Grace Cherian is a natural health copywriter. You may visit her website at http://www.gracecherian.com/.

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Do the biting cold winter winds get you down? The huge piles of dirty snow? Navigating the icy sidewalks that turn you into a skater, albeit not a very graceful one?

On winter mornings, do you find it difficult to get out of bed? Wish you could curl up under the blankets and forget all your responsibilities?

If you notice these symptoms, then you may struggle with seasonal affective disorder or SAD for short.

What is SAD?
It is a form of depression that becomes worse during the darker winter months when you're exposed to less sunlight and it returns each year at roughly the same time.

Cells in the retina of your eye respond to varying levels of light. A pacemaker-like structure in the brain controls some of the body’s rhythms—one of which is to produce the hormone, melatonin. Melatonin levels rise in the evening, inducing sleep, and fall in response to morning light.

If you have SAD, however, your body clock, doesn’t adjust to winter’s later dawns and earlier sunsets. The decreased sunlight affects your  melatonin levels, and consequently, your mood and energy during waking hours.

How can you manage SAD?

1. Light Therapy

You can get a special light therapy box with fluorescent lights mounted on a metal reflector. The light box is fitted with a plastic screen to filter out damaging ultra-violet frequencies. Light therapy is uniquely (though not universally) effective in treating SAD.

Light boxes will work best when you sit near them at a prescribed distance and height, keeping your eyes open and looking ahead or slightly downward.

Experts usually recommend about 10,000 lux which is more or less equivalent to early morning sunlight. During the fall, fifteen minutes of 10,000-lux light once a day, right after waking, may suffice. Light exposure can gradually be increased to 30–45 minutes per session. If you struggle with severe SAD, you may need to expose yourself longer to the light, perhaps up to about an hour and a half per day in two sessions. If your symptoms don’t improve in 4–6 weeks, you need to re-evaluate light therapy and consider other measures.

Keep in mind that light therapy may have some side effects: mainly headache, fatigue, irritability and eyestrain. These usually subside when you lower the dose, i.e., shorten your sessions or increase the distance from the light source. If you struggle with bipolar disorder, you may develop mania as a result of light therapy. Anyone with photosensitive skin or a retinal condition, such as macular degeneration or a diabetes-related problem, should not use light therapy.

2. Aromatherapy

Essential oils can stimulate specific areas of your brain to release serotonin. Serotonin has become popularly known as the "feel-good hormone" or the body's own natural tranquilizer. When your body produces serotonin, you help to alleviate the symptoms of SAD.

Oils most commonly used to relieve SAD include bergamot, frankincense, geranium, chamomile, lavender, marjoram and citrus-derived oils. By inhaling the oils, you most effectively stimulate your brain and limbic system.

3. Exercise and Deep Breathing

Exercise and deep breathing are critical for elevating your mood. Through outdoor exercise, you gain the bonuses of fresh air and sunlight, even on a cold, cloudy day.

4. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may help lower triglycerides and increase high density lipo-proteins, HDL (also known as good cholesterol). Omega-3 fatty acids work just as well as antidepressants in preventing depression and they do so without the dangerous side effects of antidepressant drugs.

Big pharmaceutical companies hate to hear that omega-3 fatty acids prevent depression. Of course, they just want to sell more antidepressants. They will naturally attempt to discredit the health effects of fish oils  through scientists or industries funded by pharmaceutical companies.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish (most abundantly in oily species like salmon and tuna) and cod liver oil. But almost all fish now have dangerously high mercury levels. The risk of mercury to your health, therefore, now outweighs the benefits of omega-3 from fish.

But Carlson's is one of the few brands that is free of mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is properly processed and contains a therapeutic dose of vitamin E that prevents the oil from going rancid in your body. Buy Carlson's fish or cod liver oil from your local health food store.

To your health!

Grace Cherian is a natural health copywriter. You may visit her website at http://www.gracecherian.com//.

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