Essential Tips to write a Press Release or Media Release

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Essential Tips to write a Press Release or Media Release which can be submitted to media and leading worldwide or India PR wire services are here. A Press Release (also called sometimes PR or Press Report), is a business promotional tool that is used to announce anything new that is happening in your company. It can be for a new product or service or for a new office location. Sometimes, it is used to announce the merger or partnership between two companies or just a business relationship announcement.

Press Release by a company is aimed at getting the media attention. The main purpose of a Media Release is announcing something that has a news value so that it is picked up by media and the company gets awareness without spending money on advertising. A press release is suited to the objectives of the author (what they want to say) and is usually designed to be sent to journalists, to enable them to develop articles on that matter. Journalists and editors can then use the press release to write the articles and news analysis reports.

Press Release can not be done in any format and there has to be a fixed format in which press release should be written. Press release are distributed using fax, e-mail, published on internet, or couriered along with a full media or press kit. You can also send a pitch letter along with press kit though it is not necessary. These deliverables though soung too much to do but they make life simple for everyone. You however need to conform to the set standards and expectations of the media. If you do not do that there is a very high chance that your release will not read at all (leaving alone being published).
India PR Line the leading free press release service in India has compiled these guidelines to help you get complete idea about basics of writing a press release:

Essential Tips to write a Press Release
Logo: Always preferable to write the release in a company letterhead or at printed with the company’s logo at the top of the page (if faxed or couriered). If published online or sent through email – give you logo. Logo gives the good impression about the reputation and standards of the company.

Title of Page: At the top of press release write in bold and All CAPS ‘PRESS RELEASE’. Each of these words should be spelled out in CAPS. If you are releasing something very sudden and it has an element of emergency to it, then use the words ‘FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE’ just below the PRESS RELEASE.

Headline of Press Release: Headline of press release is a major aspect of press release. Hence the Headline or the Title should be written in bold and centered and should be anattention grabber. This will immediately capture the interests of the journalists. Make sure that the headline of the press release is catchy, short and impressive for them to read on.

Press release Summary: Just below the headline in bold letters write about 2 sentences which give the idea of press release. This is like an executive summary for journalists and editors.
Main Content: The body or the main content of the release is obviously where you will say it all. Make sure you make the body short, useful, accurate and interesting. As an author of a Media release you should write keeping this in mid that people are short of time and they should be conveyed the main stuff that you want quickly.
While writing the main content start by giving the general information about the date and city for which the release is being made. Then use the 5W & 1H pattern i.e.

who has done it
what has been done
when it was done
where it was done
why it is done
How it is done

The structure can be a first introductory paragraph with summary. This is followed by a middle large paragrapg with all details. And finally at the end a conclusive paragraph to sum it up and write on any action items.

Company details: At the end of press release give the details of all the companues that are release this media release. This is usually a standard paragraph as notes to editors. This includes brief company profile, website etc.

Media contact details: Here you give contact details of all your media contacts including their address, phone numbers and emails.
Other tips to write a press release: Be formal in tone of press release. Use the web neutral black fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana etc.

Conclude the Press release with ###: Press release should be concluded with 3 # symbols centered just below the last line of the press release which practice among PR professionals to show the indication for end of the release.

How to Become a Working Writer

Finding a literary agent can be one of the most discouraging obstacles in getting your novel published or your screenplay produced. However, getting an agent is one of the first and most important steps toward success. This is because most well-known publishers and producers do not accept unsolicited material (not represented by an agent). Literary agents can get your works into the hands of publishers and producers; they will also assist you in editing and negotiating the sale to ensure you get the best possible deal. There is no one way to get an agent. Luck and hard work both play a part.

FINISH AND PERFECT. Before you begin your quest, make sure your work is as polished as possible. Have other writers read your work and ask for brutal honesty. It may sting a bit, but will help you in the long run. When you get in front of agents, you have only one shot to impress them.

GAIN EXPERIENCE. An agent will be more likely to take notice of you as a writer if you have had something published before. Try freelancing for a few small publications. Having something published will not only give you credibility, it will also speak volumes of your ability to work under editors and deadlines. Attending writing classes and seminars is also a great way to show an agent the dedication to your craft, and will also help to fine-tune your skills.

RESEARCH AGENTS. Find out which agents or agencies represent the writers you admire. Note if they are representing projects and writers within the genre you are writing. There is no reason to send your romance novel to an agent who only represents horror writers. You can find a list of agents and agencies, and what they specialize in, online. Write them a query letter. Be prepared to send letters to a lot of agents. Find out the agencies’ preferred way to be contacted. Agents appreciate your doing necessary homework and following their submission guidelines. If they do respond to your inquiry, they may want only your bio, a synopsis or sample chapter. Do not send more than they ask for; they will request more if desired. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope.

QUERY LETTER. Be professional, polite and articulate. Let them know how you heard about them. Write a brief but descriptive synopsis of your plot that makes them want to read more. You may also want to include a brief bio, and list of published or produced works, and any other pertinent information. Your letter should be no more than a page.

NETWORK. Go to conventions, writing functions, conferences, classes and anything that can get you in front of someone in the industry. Cultivate relationships with other writers and editors; not only will you have a support system but it is a great way to grow your network. You never know who knows that perfect person for your project. Fortunately, the internet has revolutionized the way we network. Get involved on WritingRoom.com and other social networks; you never know who you may come across.

BE PROFESSIONAL. Always remember you are asking something of the agent. Even if you are treated in a less-than-professional manner, stay polite in your conversations and communications. Agents will want to know if you can take criticism and respond to suggestions. Be open to what they have to say and be appreciative of their time. Present yourself and your manuscript in a professional manner – do no tell them they are missing out on the next Harry Potter…this doesn’t work.

ENTER A WRITING CONTEST. By submitting your works to writing contests and festivals, you can accurately gauge your competition. If you happen to win a writing contest, you not only have that for your resume but you can gain buzz and possibly the attention of an agent.

WRITE MORE. As they say, everyone has one good novel in them; it takes two to make a writer. Agents want writers who can continue to work and write. If you have more than one manuscript or screenplay, it will not only show your range but ensure them that you can be a valuable asset.

WORD OF CAUTION. Literary agents do not charge reading fees. Be wary if an agent requests an upfront fee. They get paid by taking a percentage of the sale price of your work.

Getting an agent is a time-consuming process. Keep your chin up! With lots of hard work and a tad of luck, it is bound to happen.

Use Blogging In Your Online Marketing Business

Blogging is one of the easiest and fastest growing aspects of internet marketing. There are several keys to successful blogging. Here are a few to get you started on your way to happy blogging.

Blogs are used to help people connect in order to share knowledge and feelings about issues in life. One of the keys of writing good blogs is speaking in a way that more people will understand. Don’t use a lot of acronyms or local slang that few will actually comprehend. Try to keep sentences short and concise and grammatically simple. Keep your blog updated as much as possible so visitors will want to return often to see what’s new in ‘your world’. Try to stay focused on one main topic or issue and comment on other blogs with similar content. Ask questions or make comments which visitors can reply to. Most importantly, make your blog ‘good reading’.

Start with a free blog hosting service which allows immediate blogging. No knowledge of scripts, hosting, or programming is needed allowing you to concentrate on your content instead of the internal maintenance of the blog. By starting with a free service, you are not out any start up costs or left with a bill should your blog not be successful. Once you are ready to upgrade to your own domain, you simply post an entry to your blog announcing your move. Since blogs are organized in chronological order, your last entry can be used to redirect your followers to your new ‘location’ at the new URL address. Only upgrade when you absolutely need to.

Choose a niche to blog about. This can be a targeted product, service or topic, anything you can write enthusiastically about. Keep your topic precisely focused by using keyword research services.

Keep your blog updated daily in order to keep your blog more interesting to readers and more appealing to search engines. In order for your blog to be successful you must keep traffic and retain visitor interest.

You must have traffic in order to profit from blogging. This can be accomplished in several ways. Always use your blog URL address in the signature of your email, forum discussions, message boards, and other communication media. Submit your URL to search engines, blog directories, and blog ping services. If you use your blog for posting articles, you should submit those that are valuable and lengthy to article syndicators like GoArticles or Ezine Articles. Make sure to put your blog URL in the ‘About the Author’ area to create link popularity and backlinks for your blog. When your article is picked up from syndication and used on another website, the ‘About the Author’ area is included along with the link you included and is then crawled and indexed by the search engines. In this way search engines are bound to find your site and credit you as an authority on the topic which increases your ranking.

By using a simple free page counter service, you can track the traffic your blog receives. By using a service which gives you advanced traffic analysis such as keyword tracking, referral, and search engine information, you will be able to tweak your blog for greater performance.

Once you know how others are finding your blog, you can figure out which keywords are being used. If one or more keywords are constantly leading to your blog, then use these keywords in entry titles and posts as often as possible to make your blog even more powerful. Use multiple blogging services to attract more visitors and increase the chance that one of your blogs will be in the search engine results for your focused keywords. By simply using copy/paste, you can post your entries to several different accounts such as Blogger, LiveJournal, or your own personal favorite.

Try to keep your daily entries short and concise but detailed and informative and topic oriented. Should you find an entry can not be covered this way, save it for an article which can be published for syndication.

Graphics can sometimes be used to bring your blog to life but don’t allow them to detract from the more important aspect of the blog content. Choose graphics carefully and make sure they fit your entry topic. Try to use original graphics, photos, and art, and add a caption or comment to each.

Keep your blog entries as personal as possible using personal experiences ad endeavors. Share product reviews with your visitors instead of using your blog as a pitch page.

Give your readers something to look forward to each time they visit your blog by using themes or advance notice of product, service or topic reviews you will be discussing. Also try to find exclusive information to share with your readers that they can only find at your blog and they in return will tell others about your site. Once your traffic increases, start using advertising to turn your traffic into profit. Contextual and graphic advertising can be used.

Now that you have a successful blog, you can upgrade to a domain of your own. You’ll need a web host and blogging software. Once you’re ready for traffic, announce your move on all your previous blog accounts, give your new URL name and address. Ask your visitors to bookmark this link for future reference.

By following these techniques your blogging experience should be much more rewarding. But remember, there is no guarantee of overnight success. Time, dedication, and persistence will be rewarded with the royalties of happy blogging.

Ways to Ensure that Your Article is Read

You already know the benefits of article marketing and would like to write as many articles as possible for article submission to directories. However, for some of you, writing even one article seems to be a lot of work. Let alone many. And you wonder - even if you did manage to put in the effort, would anyone read your content at all? After all, there are so many articles being written daily by people all over the world on the same subject. Why would a reader pick your article over others?

Here are 7 sure fire ways to ensure that your articles get read:

1) Use short paragraphs. Short paragraphs makes the article easy to read. When there is hardly any paragraphing, the article appears lengthy. This tends to put off a prospective reader.

2) Make use of numbers or bullets. It has been shown that readers like to read bulleted lists. Readers like tips presented in a short succint manner, so that they are easy to follow.

3) Use sub-headings to break your article into sections. This makes it easy for the reader to recognise that you have moved from one point to the next.

4) Provide a good attention-grabbing title or header. An enticing title attracts a prospective reader. Use keywords in the titles to help draw his or her attention. For instance, a title like "7 easy ways to look 10 years younger" for an anti-aging article sounds appealing.

5) Keep your reader interested from the start to the finish. You want to make the reading experience pleasurable and enjoyable. This can be achieved by using examples, real life situations, similes and vivid descriptions. You want to ensure that your reader reads to the bottom of the article where the author's resource box is.

6) Utilize figures when necessary and not just ordinary and general statements. Using specific facts and figures give your article more weight and makes your reader sit up in attention.

7) Project a positive or a call-to-action tone in your article. No one likes to read an article that has no zest. If you get your reader excited and wanting to find out more, he or she will get to the bottom of the article and click through the hyerperlink to your site. Then, that will be mission accomplished!
Before you think you will be wasting your time, consider this. Your prospect is likely to be searching for information that your article contains. While the information may be the same from article to article on the same subject, the way that you present can have a vast impact on article readership. If you can present information in a creative manner or in ways that have been proven to work, then it is likely that your article will be read from top to bottom and read by many as well.

Writing a good article doesn't have to be strenuous and painful exercise. Once you get the hang of it, writing articles can be fun and easy to produce. Of course, it is preferable that you are knowledgeable about the topic that you are writing about. Without sufficient knowledge, it is hard to make your articles creative and interesting.

New Writers Tips To Getting Noticed

New writers today have more competition than ever before. Now to make your mark you have to have a special niche, a writing niche that is. One mistake most new writers make is trying to be all things to all people. Another mistake is writing what people are not buying. Writers who focus on only what they like to write is called a hobbyist, not a paid writer, especially in the competitive market we're in now.

Now this is the time to not only strengthen on your writing skills but equally your research skills. Good writing is 70 percent research. Thanks to the internet, research is easier and more convenient for writers like you. Unlike new writers of the past it's not necessary to live at the library, dig through dusty files or to bribe the local librarian to gain access to hard to get sources.

Now with the internet you can do most of your research in front of your computer, with an occasional trip to your local library. Here's 3 Tips to Get Noticed.

1. Write What People Are Interested In Now
This could be the latest subject that keep people talking, a special problem many people have that keep them up at night. Or some unknown or little known information about the hottest celebrity most people don't know about.

2. Write A Top 20 List
For some reason people today want know about the top 20 anything. So pick a popular subject and research the top 20 concerning it. The listing is limitless. You could write about the top 20 restaurants, electronics, real estate properties, automobiles movies, etc. The key is to make sure your research is based on the current facts.

3. Make Sure You Develop Passion Before You Start Writing
Whatever subject you decide to write about make sure you have passion for it. And if you don't have passion, develop it before you start writing. Why? Because nothing shows through your writing to the sophisticated readers of today than the passion the passion you have for the subject you're writing about. So, whatever you choose to write about make sure you're fired up about the subject before you start typing. Doing this one step can make the difference between your writing success or failure in reaching your readers mentally and emotionally.

As you continue to follow the tips mentioned above you’ll discover your writing niche. It may take you a while to discover your angle, your strength or your unique selling proposition (U.S.P) that separates you from the heard of competition. So, prepare yourself by mastering the fundamentals first and soon everything else will fall into place.

How to Write an Article Starting with Your Outline

Learning how to write an article starts first with determining what your topic will be. The next step from that point will be the development of an outline. Writing articles can be more difficult without having an outline to which you can refer. In fact a good outline will serve as writing guidelines for you and takes little time to put together. This will also help improve your writing by keeping you focused on your subject. If you have an online business then you probably know how effective writing articles can be for promoting your goods and services. It is therefore all the more important to learn how to put together a good outline which will help save you time for other aspects of your business.

Here are 5 simple steps you can take to put together an outline that will improve your writing in both time and effectiveness.

PREMISE

What is your point of the article? This will be the FIRST component of your article you will have to establish in order to move forward with your efforts. You must decide what it is you are going to write about

At this point it is important to mention that the remaining article components are not necessarily completed in the order as I will be reviewing them. It is entirely up to the personal preferences and writing styles of the individual.

INTRODUCTION

Briefly explain the point of your article in opening paragraph. Let the reader know immediately what it is you are writing about and the points you will try to bring forth in your composition.

BODY

The actual explanation of the points or steps that you want to discuss and explain will be in the article body itself.

In an orderly fashion that is easy to follow or makes sense you will present your points or premise and review them in such way as your introduction indicated.

CONCLUSION

Here is where you will 'wrap up' your article by quickly reviewing what it is that the body of your article has just explained. In essence you are telling the reader what they have just read and what they will gain from this information if used correctly.

TITLE

Create a Title that describes the content of your article. If possible you want to make it something catchy but it should definitely reflect the content. Some people start their articles by developing a title first and then focusing on the other components afterwards.

As we have already mentioned the order in which these components are completed is up to the individual.

Learning how to write an article outline will help to save you time when you actually sit down to write. Having your thoughts formatted in such a way will make writing articles a breeze by helping you stay on your intended topic. Developing effective writing skills such as this is even more important if you used this method to advertise online. By easily putting together helpful writing guidelines as we outlined above you can breeze through the entire writing process. The time you save can then be devoted to other things of your choosing.

5 SUPREME FUNCTIONS OF YOUR ARTICLE HEADING

The article heading has a number of varying functions. Here a five of the most important functions of your article heading. Always keep them in mind when thinking up an appropriate heading for your article.
1. Your article heading should offer help and solutions to the problems and needs of a potential customer. Once a potential customer comes across an article heading that proffers help, he is immediately drawn to it whether his intention is to buy a product or not

2. Your article heading should be a mirror of your overall article. It should tell the potential customer what he/she will come across in the body of the article. In other words, your article heading should be a brief summary of your overall article.

3. Your article heading functions as a direct link to your article body. Simply speaking, it should be able to captivate your audience long enough for them to read the total article.

4. Your article heading functions as a gateway to the rest of the article and should be constructed as such. It should not try to explain or expatiate on the subject matter. That is the function of the article body. Keep it short and simple.

5. Your article heading is the foundation of your article. Your overall article takes root from the foundation. If your article heading is weak and uninteresting, it usually transfers to the rest of the article, no matter how well written the body is. It’s just a simple case of like attracts like which plays on the psychology of the customer/reader. In his mind, he says: “this article is dull’” by just reading the heading alone.

The Crusades Of Writing

This article does not discuss what to write or how to write, but merely a favorite – why to write.
The world appears in its dissatisfactions. Potential lies in the prospect that desires to change it, and prosperity lies in the chaotic chase that has already begun. Writing is barely a provision of the many to choose from.
Any man can breathe. Any man can disembowel liquid. Any man can write.
Writing becomes a necessity when the worthier elements of life like love and joy, become pursuits instead of possessions. Those who like to mouth ‘I love to write’ might as well have ‘loved to bungee jump’. So often, writing is an escape rather than a commitment, an alternative rather than a motive, a hobby rather than an involvement.
The difference between writing, when writing is the object of a desire, and writing, when it is the dearth of one, is similar to the difference between consuming food through your mouth or your nostrils. One is precise; the other is either foolhardy or deliberate.

A failure in one’s life is an achievement in one’s vanities. A hurt pride resorts to dissimilar paths of self-absorption eluding the one that confronts its vulnerabilities. Those who fail as intellectuals, rise as diplomats, but never cede to be individuals – because compliance with circumstances defeats the purport of the indomitable convictions of man, so likely, we forge more humane opportunities. Opportunities that are severely consistent, ripe and simple. Opportunities like writing.
Once again, take notice – Any man can breathe. Any man can disembowel liquid. Any man can write.
The object of scrutiny when two things are placed in contrasting contest is not spurious triumph, but progress through aptitude. Sometimes, it is essential to lose, and sometimes it is downright pivotal; it is forever substantial to remember that neither is success a construct of victories, nor is it a servant of one. Success lies deep in the path of experience and often, unknowingly, people who disembowel liquid, bungee jumpers, writers - pass it demurely. It is a fervent moment writhing within several unnamed others; it cannot be achieved, it has to be a yielding harvest.

In writing, there are no discoveries, only inventions – those, that either concoct interest or intrigue. If anything in the written connotation is a function of the former, it is languid and specious. If anything, at all, as it has been a rarity for so long, compromises with the latter, it is grand, unique, most welcome, and most awaited.
Uselessness is an innate, inherent part of writing anything. Futility, you see, is perfect and the only thing that is so. Those who master it are legends, those who come across it accidentally are writers, and those who tend towards it are fools. Those who come closest are renowned as professionals.
Precision in any sort of writing is a triviality and a widowed cliché. There is no ‘bull’s eye’ in perspectives, in predilection or in opinion; it is consequential to generalize. A thing that is meant to socialize with more than a single existent word should never focus or centralize acutely. It’ll fail to stand ground, and eventually fail to impress.

The diversity one writer inures to delineate himself from another is only in an unrealized, imperfect conformity of perseverance. Hard work is an unknown realm, a world within a world, a most secret horizon of each written syllable – when we expand these realms and horizons, when we free our worlds, we can hope towards hope… to be writers. A just and lively hope to be good writers, and if not, efficient in the least.
There is still a last truth to reckon with, again and again, until it is defunct and old and as gray as cement stripping off naked walls –
Any man can breathe. Any man can disembowel liquid. Any man can write.
Learn to survive it.

How to become an Expert and Authority writing Articles

Being an Expert and Authority is very crucial to the success of every business, especially on the Internet. There are thousands of thousands of sources of information for people to choose from. There are thousands of Experts that are providing high quality services in every field of life. So what can you do if you are a new business owner? How can you make your way through the jungles of Internet competition? The answer is – you must become an Expert and Authority. You can think that it’s easy to say, but it’s difficult to do. No, if you know how you can become an expert in an area you never were before.

Think about what you want to know, that can be useful to make your business grow. Maybe you need more traffic; maybe you don’t know how to set your auto responder account. Maybe you want to know more about how blogging can help your business. Or maybe you just started your internet business
journey, and don’t know what to do first.

Think about it. Choose one topic and start to make a research. Type keywords of a topic, you are interested in, into the search engine like Google, Yahoo or whatever you like. It will expose thousands of websites for you in return. All you need to do, is to click on those links one after another and read the information you will find there.

Another way to find information is to search in article directories. Choose the best article submission sites and type your keywords in search engine. Collect all information that you think can be useful, and that can be a good resource for future article.

Next and very important step is to implement all this in practice. The main rule for your successful article marketing is – you must walk what you talk. That means that you must understand everything you are teaching others. Don’t write article on the topic you have no idea about. People will understand this very quickly. If you want to write articles as an expert, you must become an expert.

If you are writing about how blogging can help to grow business, you must start to write your blog. Or if you are writing about benefits of squeeze pages, you should better use them in your own business. You can learn about something new little by little - one little step at a time and you must do it constantly. Be patient. Every seed needs time to grow but it mustn’t become a tree overnight. This is a law of nature, and this law is everywhere. Even in business.

Writing articles is the great strategy not only branding yourself as an expert and authority but also for generating targeted traffic to your website.

The quality content of your articles makes people trust you as an expert. They will come to your website for more information in hope that they should find solutions to their problems. If they will know that they can trust your free information, they will be sure that you are providing high quality products and will want to buy something from you.

So, in this case you can shoot two rabbits with one shot: discover new and useful information you needed, and create a good and content rich article that can be useful for others.

This is a smart way to become an Authority, because researching information and writing good content articles makes you true Expert in the niche of your target market.

How to Write Articles fast

Learning how to write articles fast without having to sacrifice the quality of the content is important to people trying to write who have full time jobs and maybe even a family too. They probably have lots to say yet not much time to say it. So here is where I am going to try and help.

First things first, I highly recommend using any information that your article directory provides for you. They are there for that reason. Subscribe to the forum, and to any and all resources provided by your article directory and here's the tricky part; actually READ them.

Then use the tips, if only for experimental purposes. The best way to maximize your writing is to take the advice provided by professionals. They spend their time writing those helpful hints and tips to help you improve on your writing skills.

Second things second I suppose? Write about something you already know a lot about. It will make the entire process flow like a river. Here is what I do:

I get an empty note-book and sit down with a pen(or pencil) and just start writing all the things that I know on ONE subject. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation, or structure. Forget about all that and just write facts, the more obscure(less known) the facts, the better. However, be careful not to avoid the really simple ones too.

When you know something really well, you tend to forget that other people probably don't know it. So do not over-complicate this process. Write fast and as many words, ideas, facts as you can. One tip is 'thinking' is bad in this step. I know that sounds weird but just trust me and try it out for yourself.

If you have any trouble in this step then you might want to re-evaluate the subject matter. You might not know as much as you thought you did. This process should be super simple. Keep in mind that no one will ever read this unless you want them to.

After your finished then work out all the bugs and details a second time just as fast but with more in mind of grammar and syntax. But still as fast as you can keeping in mind that no one will read it besides yourself.

Next write from that second draft but clean it up and KNOW that others will read this material. It will come out good, probably even great because you have already done it twice. Don't criticize yourself. In life we are our own worst enemies and tend to be too hard on ourselves. Just DO it.

Third tip and the finale. It is most important to STAY on topic. I know this goes without saying, but in today's super fast paced society it is easy to get sidetracked and before you know it you are off on some tangent that has nothing to do with what you originally began writing about. This tends to be a fairly common mistake and one that is absolutely UN-forgivable by your readers.

Online article writing & marketing with the help of website content writer

Today, customers expect every company to have a website. Therefore, most of the business houses are taking the content writing services in order to provide suitable content to their websites. A good written content helps website to increase the sales of its products and services. As content writing involves writing for the web therefore it is often associated with website content writing. Content writers use very catchy language to hold the attention of the readers, the same readers eventually will become the customer of the website.

Website writers should give due consideration to keywords, these keywords are very helpful in bringing the website in top of the search engine results. A website content writer should be well aware of keyword stuffing and keyword proximity. When too many keywords are used then the website is failed to rank higher in search engine results, this is called keyword stuffing. One should always try to keep proper distance in between two keywords.

Readers on the web are very impatient that is why they do not read the content, they basically scan the content. Therefore it is always advisable that website content writer should use bold words or bulleted lines to show the importance of a particular paragraph or lines. A writer should not overburden his reader with too many ideas in a single paragraph; a website content writer should give only one idea per paragraph. Following are some of the other tips to write for the web:

* Use simple language : Readers like to read content in language which is easy to understand and language can interest them.
* Do not give wrong information : Giving wrong information can question the authenticity of website, if you are not sure for any information then you better do not use it.

* Good spelling and grammar : your website's credibility may be harmed if you do spelling and grammar mistakes; it is always advisable to read what you have written before submitting it.

Everyone agrees upon a fact that simply creating a website is not enough in this competitive world. Therefore website owners take various article writing services to publicize their website. Article writing is one of the effective techniques which SEO companies follow to increase the ranking of client’s company. Following are few tips for effective article writing. If you are also looking for these website or article writing services for your website then you can contact any reliable company that are involved in this business.

3 Tips For Easily Producing Quick Articles

Writing articles is truly a task for a webmaster with higher thinking on the mind.

It's a problem that seems to affect every web marketer and entrepreneur out there; while you're busy thinking about the big picture, the amount of micro-content that needs to be created builds up and up, forcing you to invest time in something that you don't particularly enjoy.

While writing can be taxing, both mentally and creatively, it doesn't need to be something that you force yourself to invest a lot of time in.

By simply applying some basic strategies, tips and tricks, you can transform your writing from something that sucks up your time into a quick task that leaves you with time to focus on the bigger picture.

These three tips will super-speed your writing abilities, and leave you creating top quality content in no time at all:

1. Pre-research, and let the information sit.

A lot of writing seems to come naturally at certain points during the day. Whether you're a night writer or an early morning writer, mixing up your writing times can often increase your output.

For example, you might find that you get an incredible creativity and productivity wave during the middle of the night.

While this isn't the ideal time to work, you can use it to your advantage. Jot down your ideas when they pop into your head, and take notice of them when you're writing out your articles.

This can save you time trying to get into a 'creative zone' and leave you with just the simple tasks sitting ahead of you.

2. Find your circadian rhythm and stick to it.

This tip works in tandem with the previous one. Creativity isn't just limited to places, it's often most abundant during certain time periods.

If you're having trouble writing during the day, consider writing at night. A lot of writers find that they can concentrate on their writing most effectively during the evenings, and have trouble getting the same level of fluency and speed during the day.

Try and experiment with different times for quality and speed, as the two variables are often exclusive. Find a time where you get the right balance of optimum quality and quick speed, and work it into your writing schedule.

3. Use quick tools and Google searches to brush up your research.

Writing on a topic that you understand but haven't yet mastered? If you need to check up the details, it's very easy to end up distracted.

Instead of sitting with ten tabs open in your browser, limit yourself to using single tabs and simple Google searches to look up dates, names and other simple facts.

By minimising the amount of time that you spend off your work, you minimise the possible distractions that enter your workplace.

Boosting your productivity is more about controlling setting than controlling behaviour, and making sure that you don't step into unproductive territory is step one towards achieving ultimate productivity.

How to Write a Funding Proposal

No guide for writing a funding proposal would be complete without cautioning that a business looking for funding cannot do so without also presenting a completed business plan. Every lender, whether bank or other financial institution, venture capitalist, or private individual, will want to see the firm's business plan in addition to the project detail. They'll want to know the company's mission, its goals, its steps to achieving those goals, its products and services, its available resources, the market, the competition, and your firm's competitive edge.

The business plan that accompanies the funding proposal you write and present should also include the owners or officers and all major players such as executives and others instrumental in the day to day workings of the company.

If you're new to writing a funding proposal a guide is essential, whether a written brochure or publication, online assistance, or a counselor at the local small business development center. SCORE, the Service Corps for Retired Executives, is another top-notch resource that can guide you through writing a funding proposal. The volunteers are all retired executives and other experts who have been where you are and have succeeded.

In addition to the standard documents that the bank or credit union will require for the loan application, the lender also expects to see a written funding proposal when you apply for the loan. Rather than looking at writing a funding proposal as a tedious chore, look at it as the guide for your lender to see just how exciting, promising and profitable your idea and firm could be and what an opportunity they have to be a financial part of your great venture.

Give your funding proposal a zippy but clear title, then talk about the overview of the project you've planned, supplying background information on the problem as you see it, the details of the project that will solve the problem, what resources you have available and what resources you'll need to get the job done, what staff and administration help you have and what else you might need, the facilities available for your project and any that you'll need to lease or buy in addition, any supplies or equipment or personnel that will be added, and any communication capabilities or requirements that are pertinent. Present a budget for your project.

Step by step, you should....

* Write a cover letter with your funding proposal, both as an enticement to read the proposal and a guide to what will be found in the funding proposal pages. Included in the cover letter, besides the title, are a brief introduction to your firm, the purpose of the loan and the amount of money you are requesting.

* The funding proposal should begin with the company name, address, and contact information such as phones and e-mails. Here should also be the names, titles and social security numbers of all the principals, the reason for the loan, the amount requested and details of what you will be doing with the money including the equipment and supplies purchase, perhaps the lease of new facilities, the resources now available, the staff that might be added, and the administration personnel that will oversee the project.

* Next offer extensive details about the firm, including any previous projects and performance, clientele, overall goals and objectives, unique aspects of the firm and the ownership and legal structure.

* Background information is next, with details about the company budget, as well as the project budget, the market and the competition, and your firm's standing among the competition. Details on the current clientele as well as an evaluation plan for determining the company's overall financial and competitive health and for that of the project itself should be included as well.

* All key personnel should be profiled, including their education, the accomplishment both as a firm member and prior, as well as their qualifications. Along with background information and a budget for the project, you should provide all information and documents about the last three years of the company's operations. If not in business that long, provide the financial statements including balance sheets and income statements that you have. Collateral should be pledged for the funding.

* Written communication is a crucial part of your funding proposal and someone should guide you through the process by proofreading the materials, to check for spelling, grammar, factual accuracy and overall quality of presentation.

Any time you apply for a loan, whether the details of the needed resources, the project overview, the statement of the problem, and the budget are already in the application or the cover letter, you should still submit a funding proposal as an overall guide to the loan officer and other funding decision makers.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Article Site Marketing

Article site marketing, or simple article marketing, is probably one of the most popular, cost-effective and easiest ways to market your business online. This useful internet marketing strategy has been practiced by many marketers for a year now and still retains its efficiency. Submitting articles to the right directories is greatly helpful in gaining substantial search engine ranking. But it’s easy to do it the wrong way. So before you err in the practice, check out these useful do’s and don’ts.

Do’s

1. Write an article that sells your product effectively.

The quality of the article is important when it comes to article site marketing. Furthermore, it’s tremendously helpful if your articles serve their purpose of promoting your business online. The best way to do this is to make sure that the content you produce will effectively market your business. It’s crucial to write about topics that concern your particular niche as well as the services and products you’re proposing. This way, you’ll target your intended audience and improve your online visibility through efficient keyword integration and SEO.

2. Choose the best directories and submission sites.

It’s not enough to choose one or two directories. The most efficient approach in article site marketing is submitting to as much directories as you can. But not just any directory will cut it either – you must choose the best and the most advantageous. What you can is to go surf online for directories and see if they contain several wide-ranging topics and acknowledge keyword integration. Huge traffic and popularity are also musts.

Don’ts

1. Rehash tired, old headlines and contents

The fastest way to produce articles is rehashing other’s contents and spread them all over the web as yours. This will not be effective in helping your audience differentiate your products and services from those of your competitions. While it’s hard to produce unique and current topics without running the risk of exhaustion, you can still offer quality compositions through ample research.

2. Limit yourself to directories.

Directories are tremendously helpful for your article site marketing efforts, but they’re rarely enough to quench the need for top rankings. As much as possible, don’t limit yourself to article directories. There are several other free submission sites you choose. You can even create your own website or blog for free. This not only helps you increase your chances of getting top ranking but also slowly boost your credibility.

Why You Need to Make Eye Contact with Your Audience

Imagine watching a speaker who has wonderful words of advice, encouragement, experience and/or success and that speaker never once looks in your direction – in fact, that speaker never acknowledges you or anyone filling those seats to hear his/her wonderful words. Does that happen? More often than you may think.

I have seen, as well as worked with, many people who have strong delivery skills but are lacking in one particular area. They are unable to make eye contact with their audience. Now admittedly, if you are speaking to a hundred people or more, you will not be able to look at each and every individual but you are able to acknowledge each and every section of the room. In doing, those in that particular section will think you are looking directly at them.

It goes further than that, however. Making eye contact with your audience means talking to your audience and that can only occur when you recognize how your audience is reacting to your words. Looking over the heads of your listeners is not making eye contact with them. If that happens, then you are not communicating with your audience but are instead talking at them.

The beauty of public speaking is understanding that your message is a form of oral communication. You audience’s response to you is part and parcel of that communication. If they do not react, be it with a smile, a frown, or the nodding or shaking of their heads – if they are not booing, applauding, laughing or even groaning, then your message is not being heard. If your message is not being heard, then your purpose for speaking is pointless.

Part of good public speaking is building a rapport with your audience, establishing trust, credibility, and integrity with those who have gone out of their way to listen to you. Without eye contact, you cannot build that trust, you cannot justify integrity because you are not communicating. Acknowledging their feelings in respect to what you are saying is the value of why you are speaking. Whatever your success, it can only be recognized when you are aware of their response to your words.

What is fascinating about making eye contact is that it is one of the most important things you can do to control your nervousness because you will be treating your audience just as if you were having a conversation in your living room. And, that is good communication. If you are not making eye contact when you speak, try it next time. You will be amazed at how much better you feel as well as your audience!

Effective Presentation Skills Training

Have you ever felt anxious because you have a presentation to make? Did you ever feel that the time to prepare is too short? Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you don't know where to start?

Welcome to the world of doing presentations! A skill that should never be overlooked because it opens doors to personal and corporate success.

Presentation is just one of the ways to convey an idea, report data, and provide information. It is not just about giving lifeless facts and figures; it has a human element to it that gives each presentation its own personality.

What are effective ways to train presentation skills?

Actually, the only training you can do is to improve your public speaking skills -- notably, your voice modulation, speech emphasis, posture and gestures, eye contact, and delivery ñ pretty much, the fundamental stuff.

Setting these aside, the key to improve your presentation skills is not mainly just about speaking skills but also, the knowledge of what works best.

There are universal truths that you should exploit when giving presentations. These are facts based on experience and scientific research. Knowing these can make a big difference in your presentations.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Yes. This old adage can never be truer especially, in presentations. Scientific studies have proven that people take in more information from visuals and pictures. Research analysis concluded that 55% of the information we take in is visual and only 7% is text, the remaining 38% is audio.

Human eyes are information sponges. As the studies have proven, our eyes are the main vehicles in capturing information. This is mainly why more people prefer TV over books and why children favor picture books over text-only reading material.

Use this scientific truth to your advantage when it comes to making presentations. Use relevant and catchy pictures to drive your point; use color-aided graphs and charts. If possible, get rid of bulleted points.

Practice makes perfect

You can have the perfect idea. You can already visualize the best way to deliver your presentation but you'll never know if you can really pull it off if you don't rehearse. Always remember to rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse!

The best way to rehearse your presentation is with family and friends. Also, it is always better to video record your rehearsal so you can later analyze it on your own. Recognize the holes of presentation and flaws on your delivery and accordingly, correct them until you're satisfied.

Flexibility through Active Listening

To give an effective presentation, you must also learn to employ active listening. What this means is that you should be observant and conscious of your audience receptivity. Determine which area of your presentation captures their interest and which areas where they seem indifferent. If you are able to do this, you can effectively adjust in impromptu.

This is an expert skill. You can train this through comprehensively learning body language. Practice this in your every exchange with a coworker, friend, or family.

Say It In Words

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Perennial holiday problems will always include what food to serve, which guests to invite and – more to the point – which gift to give. Of course, we all like to think that we are the perfect gift giver but sit back and take a look at the gifts you have received yourself over the years. Do they give you that soft ‘loved’ feeling, or do they leave you cold? This is a common feeling experienced by so many and yet, the choice could be made easier by just preparing a little in advance.

I don’t condone doing what some people do. That is, buying up the January sales, wholesale, for gifts to be given throughout the year. This saves some dollars, accepted, but does it do what a gift should do? To my mind this is buying gifts and then trying to fit it to a friend or relative, instead of the other way around. Sure, if you have your list of things you want to buy, and those gifts are on sale – then dig in. But sales are notorious for getting rid of old stock, things that were not best sellers and other bits and pieces that are usually past their ‘sell by’ date.

Buying for younger people is also notoriously difficult. Fads come and go in the blink of an eye and your reputation would be absolutely shot if you gave a ‘January Sale’ gift to a hip and with it young person. You are likely to be told that the gift is ‘so yesterday!’

So what do you do? First and foremost, make a list of everyone who is to receive a gift. Split the list into family, friends, and work colleagues and so on and then put the names of the most important at the top of the list. This will give you the opportunity to add or delete from the list as you go along and will at least make you feel that you are doing something towards the ‘big event’. Some people do this on wall calendars, put reminders one month in advance and so on but this is a bit over preparedness. This is normally the domain of moms or dads who have their work day mapped out already by their kids’ routines. It doesn’t hurt to follow their example but some would view it as overkill. If you have a desk planner, or year planner in your diary, then marking in special occasions like birthdays and such is great, with a symbol or name one month before to remind you of the upcoming event is a great visual tool to get you organized.

The next question, naturally, is what to buy as a gift? This is where your detective skills will come in handy. It doesn’t take much to talk to people close to your ‘victim’ and who will have some idea of what they have been talking about of late. If it is a young woman, she may have well been talking of a piece of jewelry that she would like to get and the friends and close family are the best ones to tell you of this. Men, also, usually talk of what they have been thinking of buying so take a little time to investigate.

One of the favorite pieces to buy as a gift – and is usually welcomed by most – is something with a name engraved on it. Some ladies necklaces come in the form of the name itself and make a welcome addition to any woman’s collection. But something that is engraved, perhaps with a poignant message, shows that you really went out of your way to make sure the gift was personal. Indeed, this is why many wedding rings will have words and dated engraved inside to remind the couple that someone loves them!

Engraving is not isolated to jewelry though. Practically anything made of metal or glass can have anything engraved on it. Even trophies and cups have team names, dates of win, or just ‘world’s best dad’ engraved on them and this makes the gift just a little more special.

One of the favorite personalized gifts in past years was a pocket watch. These could be given from a wife to husband, a company to a retiring employee, father to son, and so on. The message was usually personal to the recipient and they were so valued that they were passed down to later generations. Indeed, if you were the recipient of grandfather’s watch, you knew you were something special!

Many men will choose a heart pendant, in gold or silver, to give to their wives or girlfriends. These lend themselves perfectly to engraving and can have ‘I love you’ or ‘Forever yours’ type messages added. In fact, anything that means something to the couple can be engraved. Even coded messages have been engraved on jewelry or articles so that no one else can work out what is being conveyed! This makes it even more special since no one can decipher your own personal code.

The act of engraving also lends itself to gifts for weddings. Some have the bride and groom’s names and date of the wedding engraved on silver or glass photo frames. This is an excellent reminder of the joy of the day. Even groomsmen’s gifts and bridesmaids gifts have been produced to be engraved with initials of the bride and groom or the date of the wedding. Some will present the bride and groom with silver wine goblets, engraved with their names, to toast the day with champagne. These normally take pride of place and are usually handed down to following generations if kept in good condition.

One thing to remember is that if you intend to give an engraved gift, you must check all the details are correct before the engraving is done. There are no return policies unless the engraver has made a mistake! Also, these things take time so you must plan in advance if you want to give this gift for a particular occasion.

A Guide to Effective Article Writing

Article Marketing is one of the best and most effective ways to drive huge traffic to a website. This has become a must for any web marketing and branding companies to market their brand. The first step to Article Marketing is writing a powerful article.

A Guide to Effective Article Writing

The article must well written and very informative. Content of the article should have the power to entice the readers to visit the website.

Basically an article consists of three sections - introduction, body and conclusion. You need to ensure each aspect of your article makes an interesting read and yet flows well from one to another section. Here is a step by step guide to effective article writing.

· Initially, start writing about subjects of your expertise and interests. This will result in your writing often and churn out articles faster as you wouldn’t need to spend much time in doing research on the subjects. Also influence of personal experience adds a different edge to the article and helps connect better with your website.

· Before beginning to write article, compile the topics you want to write on. This will help you organize your thoughts around each topic and help you write faster.

· If you need to look for or refer to more information/facts/recent articles on the web about the same subject, it is a good idea to keep notepad/word document open in a parallel window so you can copy and paste information there for quick reference.

· Organize each article in three segments - introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction should be precise and interesting to guide your reader into the body of the article. The body content of the article should be crux of the subject/topic you are writing about. In the conclusion, simply summarize the whole article you wrote in few short sentences.

· At the bottom of the article, add your very brief pen profile along with your e-mail id. This helps your readers know more about you and connect better with you.

Resume Writing

Your resume is a compilation of your professional life; from your education to summer internships, from publications to technical skills, it is critical that your resume includes anything that would help you get the job that you are interested in. Most professionals make a mistake of focusing on experience and education only. As a result, they disregard any additional information, such as certifications they have in their field, that would enhance their qualifications and assure that they stand out from the competition.

Any professional certifications and licenses that impact your career and your ability to do your job should be listed on your resume. This concept is straight forward for those professionals who cannot actually perform their jobs without having a license to do so. This is the case for teachers, real estate agents, medical professionals, etc. If you are in a profession that requires specific certifications and/or licenses, your resume should contain a section specific to this information. The heading should state "Professional Certifications" or "Professional Licenses". You should list, in reverse chronological order, any certifications and licenses that you have acquired in your professional experience.

However, it is a lot harder to consider this information and include it on your resume if your professional field doesn't require any certifications or licenses. For example, having a certificate from a seminar on managing multiple projects may not be required in order for you to do your job effectively. However, such a certificate can be very helpful in virtually any field, and if included on your resume, it can help you stand out from the crowd of available professionals and catch the employer's attention.

Consider any courses or training seminars you attended in your professional career. Don't forget to include any courses you may have taken as part of the training at a current or at a previous job. For example, if you have completed a course on using Microsoft Access Database as part of the training on your current job, and you know that you will be required to work with this program in a new position that you are seeking, make a note of this on your resume.

Treat the list of licenses and certifications as you do your professional experience; make a list, in reverse chronological order, and consider which of the items you listed are relevant to your professional goals. Your resume should have no more than five most recent certifications and licenses. List the date when the certificate or license was obtained; if you took a course over time, for example, indicate the completion date in form of month and year only. The exact name of the certificate or the license should be listed, along with an issuing organization. No additional information is necessary for this area of your resume. Additionally, make sure to highlight any certification and licenses in the cover letter if they promote your qualifications for the job you are seeking.

If the listing of licenses or certifications is lengthy, you can include this information on a separate sheet of paper. You should always list a few most recent items; however if the listing exceeds five items, let the potential employer know that additional information is available upon request. Your resume or your cover letter can point out this information, as well as highlight only those elements that promote you as the best candidate for the job.

What's in a Name?

There's a little part in all of us that hates to be embarrassed. When we ask for a product or talk about it with friends, we want to sound literate and not fumble over pronunciations. So be kind to your potential customers and avoid tongue twisters, or any name that's unusually long or foreign sounding. If you can't find a single-word name, don't go over two or three syllables.

Alliteration can help with longer names

Okay, so the president of the company likes all the longer names on your list. You can make them more memorable and/or easier to pronounce by using alliteration. Consider Circuit City (originally, the incredibly bland, monosyllabic, Wards). Or Downtown Disney, Or the most famous brand in the world, Coca Cola. All four syllables, yet they roll off the tongue with surprising ease.

Avoid abbreviations

Abbreviations lack personality and communicate very little in terms of benefit or brand character. Sure, IBM, MCI and ABC have big recognition and identity, but they also spent years and millions in virtually all media to promote their image-using images of people and situations that were warm and fuzzy. Even billionaire Bill Gates chose Microsoft over MS (which has some undesirable connotations).

Convey an implied benefit

If you don't have a lot of media dollars to spend on name recognition, try for a name that conveys a benefit or describes content. Snapple started out with a name that combined two of its original flavors: Spice N Apple. Silk-the soy-based milk brand-combines soy and milk. Benefit-oriented names include EasyOff oven cleaner, Miracle-Grow plant food, and Hearthwarmer (a fireplace insert).

Lost in Translation...or worse!

Most of us have heard the story of Chevrolet introducing their "Nova" in Spanish-speaking countries. The car tanked because 'nova' means "doesn't go." Fiat found they had to rename their "uno" in Finland, since "Uno" means garbage in Finnish. Canadian products require labeling in both English and French, which is why on some cookie boxes, the English phrase "without preservatives" has been unintentionally translated into the French "sans preservatives," which means "without condoms." 'Nuff said.

Shun fads

The shelf life of a faddish name is short and sweet. It rises to the stratosphere of recognition then nosedives into obscurity faster than you can say, "radical," "tubular" or "outta sight." Another problem with fads is they're often limited to one demographic or clique. In a market as broad and diverse as the U.S., it's better to be safe than sorry.

Protect your image

If you're like most companies, you worked hard and spent some real money creating the image of your company. So it only makes sense to protect your investment with a product name that's consistent with your existing brands and image. Rolls Royce had to pull the name of its newest addition to the Silver Cloud line, which they tentatively named the "Silver Mist," since in German, "mist" means manure. So build on what you have. A good example: Google's entry into online shopping with Froogle. Incidentally, if you're wondering where "Google" came from, it's a variation on the math term googol, a huge number with endless zeros.

Don't forget legal

Once you've settled on a few ideal prospective names, hire a good lawyer to make sure they're not already being used and not confusingly similar to someone else's in your industry.

Hopefully, this brief overview will help guide you through the subtleties of product naming. Remember, try to be unique and benefit oriented without being confusing or offensive. Avoid fads, abbreviations and tongue twisters. And, by all means, protect your image.

Become a Freelance Writer In No Time

It is not that hard to get paid to write articles online. This may be the reason why many people join the writing industry everyday. Thanks to the Internet, it is much easier to find writing jobs online than with traditional print publications. One good thing about becoming a writer online is that you don’t have to be the best writer in order to get started. Just knowing simple english and writing can land you a job.

While these writing jobs are very plentiful on the Internet, most writers still have a hard time making over $50 a day. Many experts have attributed this to the large amount of writing scams that are on the Internet. Just take a look on Craigslist, and you will find writing scams left and right;”Writing Internets needed” and “$1 per article writers needed”. In the world of writing online, most clients want something for nothing. They expect a good quality article that is readable for $1. This is why many new online writers limit themselves because they continue to take the low budget jobs that are not interested in compensating the writer for their time, research and hard work. Many writers have even coined the term, ‘online writing sweatshops’.

To get paid to write articles, you have to use your common sense and a little marketing skills online. To get out of the never ending cycle of getting paid pennies for your writing, you have to keep your eyes wide open. Stay away from free classified ads when looking for legit writing jobs. Try to work with reputable and established outsourcing companies that hire freelance writers on a regular basis. Do not go with the low budget ones with bad reputations such as, ‘Get-a-freelancer’ and ‘Elance’. Go for the fortune 500 outsourcing companies that will make sure the client pays and the writer delivers on good content.

Sell Your Own Writing- One way to combat the need for looking and scrounging for writing jobs online is to sell your own pre-written articles. This is when you write an article on a certain niche or topic and stick a ‘buy now’ button on the page along with the article’s details. You then market the sales page and wait for someone to buy the article. Most of the time, you can also write article packs such as private label rights deals. This is when you pick a popular niche and then writes about 10 articles based on this topic. You then market the articles to webmasters in forums or blogs. It is possible to make up to $1000 day or more selling pre-written articles.

As you can see, there are a ton of methods to earning cash for writing articles online. The key is to stay persistent and market yourself as best as you can. There is no reason why a writer should not be making at least $200 a day with their content. Especially with the online writing industry being so huge.

Get Paid To Write Articles Today

It is not that hard to get paid to write articles online. This may be the reason why many people join the writing industry everyday. Thanks to the Internet, it is much easier to find writing jobs online
than with traditional print publications. One good thing about becoming a writer online is that you don’t have to be the best writer in order to get started. Just knowing simple english and writing can land you a job.

While these writing jobs are very plentiful on the Internet, most writers still have a hard time making over $50 a day. Many experts have attributed this to the large amount of writing scams that are on the Internet. Just take a look on Craigslist, and you will find writing scams left and right;”Writing Internets needed” and “$1 per article writers needed”. In the world of writing online, most clients want something for nothing. They expect a good quality article that is readable for $1. This is why many new online writers limit themselves because they continue to take the low budget jobs that are not interested in compensating the writer for their time, research and hard work. Many writers have even coined the term, ‘online writing sweatshops’.

To get paid to write articles, you have to use your common sense and a little marketing skills online. To get out of the never ending cycle of getting paid pennies for your writing, you have to keep your eyes wide open. Stay away from free classified ads when looking for legit writing jobs. Try to work with reputable and established outsourcing companies that hire freelance writers on a regular basis. Do not go with the low budget ones with bad reputations such as, ‘Get-a-freelancer’ and ‘Elance’. Go for the fortune 500 outsourcing companies that will make sure the client pays and the writer delivers on good content.

Sell Your Own Writing- One way to combat the need for looking and scrounging for writing jobs online is to sell your own pre-written articles. This is when you write an article on a certain niche or topic and stick a ‘buy now’ button on the page along with the article’s details. You then market the sales page and wait for someone to buy the article. Most of the time, you can also write article packs such as private label rights deals. This is when you pick a popular niche and then writes about 10 articles based on this topic. You then market the articles to webmasters in forums or blogs. It is possible to make up to $1000 day or more selling pre-written articles.

As you can see, there are a ton of methods to earning cash for writing articles online. The key is to stay persistent and market yourself as best as you can. There is no reason why a writer should not be making at least $200 a day with their content. Especially with the online writing industry being so huge.

Create a Script for Your Call Center

producer turn that raw newsfeed into informational text that I read into the microphone. The text was broken up into reasonable sentences that were designed for easy delivery over the air. When my producer didn't show up for my shift, I did this myself I'd mark up the page, insert pauses, and emphasize the words and sentence clauses that I wanted to stress. If I couldn't be understood over a fuzzy and weak AM signal, then what was the point of taking five minutes at the top of the hour to deliver the news? I had a lot of fun and I learned how to "speak" all over again. Whenever I do any live speaking today, I use the same exact techniques that I learned while the "On-Air" sign was flashing above the studio. I mark up my speech or the text passage I'm reading because I know that impact is everything. If I lose my breath in the middle of a sentence, then it's too long. If the last word of a sentence drops out inaudibly, my message is lost. If I stumble on an unfamiliar word or name, my audience loses confidence in my message.

Live telephone operators who work in call centers and answering services need the same help that any live speaker needs. It's the job of the call center operator to communicate the client's business image to the caller, and this begins with the first few seconds of the phone call. Many small business owners' needs never go beyond representatives answering their lines with "XYZ Company, may I help you?" and improvising the rest of the conversation to obtain the information that the client requests. When clients upgrade their accounts to more complex services, it's important that they create a script that works for both the company signing up for the service, the operator reading the script, and the customer. Your sales representative is more than willing to help you create the best script to fit all of your sales or information inquiries.


Creating a call center script begins with the "answer phrase" and the same principles continue through the entire process of creating a logical script. H ere are some important items to keep in mind when you are creating your script:

• Avoid tongue twisters. Make your greeting as easy to pronounce as possible. "Doctor Perkowicz Peoria Plastic Surgery Plaza" isn't easy to say, even for the native English speaker. Make sure that your operators know how to pronounce every part of your answer phrase, and the rest of the words in your script. Keep phrases brief and avoid repeating consonant sounds that will sound awkward over the phone or might lead the operator to stutter.

• Go global. A "Good Morning/ Evening" greeting can work for some businesses, but not for all of them. If your company is doing business across time zones, think about using a simple "Hello, XYZ Company" for your customer on the other end of the globe.


• Humanize your greeting. Have an impartial friend or a trusted customer listen to your greeting, especially if it's a long introductory message of more than a sentence or two. Do you sound like a recording? If you give that impression to a caller, the person on the other end of the line might just hang up because she wants to talk with a live person, not a machine. Keep all parts of your script brief and give the operator relaying your message time to breathe and sound like a live person when you create your script.

• Less is more. There's a temptation to try and pack all the information about your company into your call center script, including providing an operator a copy of your frequently asked questions list (FAQ) so that he or she can quickly scan the file and answer 99.9 % of your callers' questions. However, this skill takes practice and training on the part of the operator and patience on the part of the caller. Long pauses to look up information, add expensive minutes to the call and are frustrating experiences for the operator and the caller alike. Extensive account training is available through most call centers, if your budget permits. If this resource is not an option for you, limit the information available to the operators to a few facts about your product or service, and let them know that it's okay to ask callers if someone from the right department can return their call and answer their questions in depth.

• Test. Call your account weekly and test to make sure that the operators are following your instructions, are handling your scripts the way that you expect, and are able to easily access the information that they need to take your calls. After the honeymoon period with a new account, operators often grow lax and shorten your script, or improvise far beyond the call of duty. This can be detrimental to your business. Make sure that you follow up with your call center to make sure they are serving your needs.

• Tweak, and tweak again. Review your script from time to time, and see if it's still leading to action. Ultimately, your script should lead to a sale, an appointment a request for more information or further contact from your office. Check your call logs and any statistics your sales representative provides you with on a monthly basis. If you notice a downward trend in your results, work with your sales rep to change your script.

These suggestions are only the beginning of creating a successful call center script for your organization. Work with your sales representative and listen to their suggestions, add your own, do your market research and your script will be a success. Clear communication starts with clear instructions from you, and clear voices on the answering end of your phone lines. Your call center will work with you to make sure that all of your needs are filled over and above your expectations.

Reviews for Money

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Writing performance reviews can be an excellent way to earn a living. Who wouldn’t want to go from place to place watching actors, singers, and chefs perform at their best (and maybe their worst)? Getting paid to do something like this just seems like fun, doesn’t it? But, in reality, these jobs are not easy to come by nor are they easy to do. A writer will need to have many qualifications and have to write very well in order to establish themselves as worthy candidates of this type of work. Writing reviews is a little more complicated than just telling what you thought of the show.

For example, writing play reviews can be a challenge. Sure, the overall show may be interesting and exciting, but what about the individual characters? In writing the reviews, the writer must have strong understanding of how the play works, who is who, and why certain things are done in certain ways. They must be fluent in the arts and understand what is good and what is bad. It is not simply their opinions that matter but their opinions will in fact determine how well the play does. Who will come see a poorly reviewed play? But, if the writer’s ideas are wrong and misguided, who will look to them again for advice on whether or not to see that play?

There is a lot of weight on the shoulders of individuals who do this type of work. Writing reviews for large newspapers and organizations may take a long time to get into. The writer will more than likely start out as a nobody, and often do the work for free long before they earn a single dime at it. Their talents will only be trusted once they have proven their skill and having the right ideas and the writing abilities as well. Many people are who do this work as freelance writers. Often, these writers work for magazines, newspapers, and online.
The field takes much perseverance and a true love and devotion, not to mention experience in the arts to make it come to be.

Journal writing provides you with an anchor

The benefits of journal writing are fairly well established due to the long history of journal writing. From Anne Frank to Di Vinci, journal writing has proven itself.

Benefits of Journal Writing

When considering the benefits of journal writing, it is important to set a few parameters. First, there is no age limit to using journals. There are distinct benefits for children of all ages, but journal writing is equally valuable to adults. The reason for this is journal writing is an act of personal reflection. Whether it is a teenager reflecting on the social nightmare of high school or an overworked parent taking twenty minutes a night to write is irrelevant. The point is, all age groups benefit from stepping back from their life for a few moments and reflecting on things.

Whether you recognize it or not, journal writing provides you with an anchor in your daily life. In the journal, you are free to write what you want without restrictions, to truly address the issues in your life without fear of criticism. Put another way, one of the benefits of journal writing is it acts as a self-help psychiatrist, but for MUCH cheaper!

As you write in your journal over time, you’ll also start to ascertain a second benefit to doing so. This benefit is one of self-criticism. Inevitably, you’ll read through past entries and review your life. Doing so will lead you to self-reflection as well as thoughts on how you might act differently should certain situations rise again.

Of equal importance, journal writing has health benefits. Before you click away from this article, consider a time in your life when you were extremely frustrated. Hopefully, you spoke to a friend to “get things off your chest.” Didn’t you feel a lot better afterwards? Getting things off your chest helps relieve stress, one of the biggest killers in our modern society. Journal writing acts in much the same way since you are able to write your thoughts without fear of criticism.

There are other benefits to journal writing, but all boil down to one simple fact. Writing in a journal allows you to express yourself without being judged. With the lack of privacy in our modern, digital world, that is hardly a small benefit.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - makers of writing journals.

What Everybody Ought To Know About Publishing

Imagine picking up your daily newspaper and fiding blank pages. Or turning on the 6 p.m. news to be greeted by a perfectly coiffed host intoning, "Nothing actually happened in the word today, so in place of our usual newscast, we're bringing you this rerun of The Simpsons." You can't picture that actually happening, can you?

Simple -- we had subscribers who expected a paper every single day, whether there was breaking news or not.

Your word needs to count for something

And not because there's no such thing as a "slow news" day. I used to work as a journalist and let me tell you, we had plenty of days when it seemed like a better idea to just go home and climb into a hot bath. There's nothing worse than late December when the paper is huge (thanks to all of the extra advertising for the Boxing Day sales) and most of government -- from municipal to federal -- has virtually shut down for the holidays. Ditto for any business that isn't retail.

No news doesn't mean no newspaper

In the absence of "news," we still put out a paper. And we filled it with acres of what we called "human interest stories." You know what I mean. Stories about charitable organizations that needed help, or about students who did good deeds or about odd and unusual hobbies people had. As "serious" journalists, we found these stories slightly distasteful, of course. But we did them anyway. Why?

Just call me an old fashioned gal, but I believe that publishing an e-zine, blog or newsletter is lot like producing a regular newspaper. As the writer, editor or publisher, you have made a promise to your readers.

It's all about delivery

And what could be a more basic promise than the one about when your publication is going to appear? "When I get around to it," is not an acceptable choice. Whatever frequency you pick -- be it weekly, every two weeks or monthly -- you need to deliver. Whatever happens in your life or your company's life -- from computer failures to redesigning your website to the dog eating your paperwork -- doesn't matter. You need to deliver. And, sorry, it also doesn't matter that your publication is free. You have made a promise -- maybe not a legally enforceable one, but a promise none-the-less.

And that's a promise

And if you fail to keep it, I can promise you this: Your readers will cease to respect you. That's a pretty steep price to pay. Isn't it better just to write and produce the darn thing?

Encourages people want

Remember, that in each article, you are communication something about you. You want the message that be one that encourages people to want to get to know you better, to learn more about you know and to become one of your clients or subscribers. So - there are many benefits to be derived from creating and publishing an article.

However, it is important to remember that there can be a downside. Of which you can avoid, once you understand what it is. There is nothing worse than reading an article that is nothing more than a sales letter, a news release or an inflated glorified piece on how wonderful you are.

You need to give the public something that they can use. Then they are much more likely to follow your link in your resource box, back to your site to find out more about you.

A summary of the benefits are:

Increased Exposure
Give Credibility (You show your expertise)
Develop Relations (People get to know you better)
Create links to your site
Give you free Publicity

For the Publisher or Website Owner, it provides:

Content
Related Articles that you don't have to write
Reference and information that you don't have to write
A vast resource of free information

In your resource box, make sure you are clear, stating who you are and where they can find out more about you. Most article directories and magazines have set limits on the size and amount of information you can place so it is important to ensure it is accurate and inviting. You are not writing articles just for praise and admiration.

You do have a business to run and bills to pay. Even if you are a millionaire and want to write just for the shear joy of it and love to teach for free, your resource box is still important, as you would want the readers to know that the information came from a credible source.

So go ahead and get started. Don't stop at one article, it can easily become buried.. Make it a habit and write them regularly whether it is once a week or once a month. And remember, have fun doing them.

The Common Sense in Freelance Article Writing

Freelance writer, Ghost writer, Article writer or whatever you call us, targets to have clients that we can work with us over years, although there are thousands of freelance writers out there, only a few become successful to obtain a client that they can work for a long period of time. It helps them to have permanent income and a stable workplace.

Our clients are always our priorities, so we are trying our best to keep them happy whatever task they may give us, considering these simple yet effective tips can help to maintain a healthy relationship between you and your client. These tips have been passed on to guide thousands of freelance writers around the world, these are merely common sense that most writers neglects.

When writing articles do your research first, articles should be based on real life facts and accurate statistics especially when it is tackling about serious matters, providing your own speculations will show un-professionalism and will decrease your credibility as a writer. If you keep on providing generic information on your articles, you might loose your client because of distrust.

Even the most excellent freelance writers make mistakes so it is necessary to have a proper review of our articles, reading it over and over again will help us to check if there are incorrect grammars and spelling mistakes. Also submit your articles in proper format in order for your clients to have a clear view on your report.

In almost all kinds of jobs, deadlines are one of the main factors that we should pay attention, we need to be punctual on deadlines and be able to submit our work before the allotted time of our client runs out. Ensure that there are no obstacles to delay your work, there’s nothing more shameful than to be always late on submission.

Last tip should be passion, love what you are doing and it will surely bring back the favor, it will be harder to think and write if you don’t give in. So open up your eyes on new ideas and broaden your imagination, this will help you grow and achieve the success you always wanted.

With these simple yet effective article writing tips in mind, you will be equipped with the proper tools to continue as a freelance writer and become very successful in the future

Best Alternative for Un-Employed

Due to economic problems a lot of companies closed leaving thousands of people unemployed. It may seem hopeless for them and also for new graduates to find a decent job. They might be stuck on their home hoping that there will be vacant slots in the line of their careers, even though we might pursue to find a job, still we need to wait for follow up interviews and necessary trainings that each company requires.

Instead of wasting time waiting for these companies to call us, there are lots of profitable things we can do within the comfort of our homes, one of these are what we called freelance writing or content writing jobs. Just by browsing through the internet, you can see plethora of people outsourcing for freelance writers, offers rage within 20$ up to 40$ even higher price per page, depending on the topic and how serious the article should be, but be aware for there are frauds and rip offs in the freelance industry.

Content writing jobs are in demand right now specially on the internet, you can take this advantage specially if you have the passion to write, if you are really serious about it you can purchase guides on how you can improve your writing skills and also on how to find or apply for a certain client.

To be in the industry, first you need to show one of your best written articles and post in on the internet, this way you can get the attention of providers that offers content writing jobs and contact you through the details you have included on your posts. At first these providers will test your skills, most of them will give you different kinds of topics for you to write, so better be ready and do your best to exceed or at least reach their expectations.

In content writing jobs, meeting client’s expectation is very crucial, so in order for you to meet their expectations, you can try to seek help from people who has been in the field for a long time, you can also read reviews and useful information regarding freelance writing jobs.

Quality is a must in each and every article you will write, so double check if there are errors in grammar and spelling. Be precise about the information you will give, articles should be made up of real statistics and facts, so don’t give your own speculations as it will negatively effect your credibility towards your clients.

If you wanted to get serious about content writing jobs, then it is advisable to explore more deeply in the field to know the in and outs of the industry at the same time giving you the idea on how to start your own web based freelance writing business, who knows this might be your big break.

Find Free Self help eBooks

Any person who is extremely fond of reading is definitely going to be looking for places where he can get easy access to the works of his choice. That means that is what prowling around in the bookstores or he is going to be hunting the publishers to find out whether his favorite writer has come out with something new. That also means that he is going to be looking at different websites on the Internet to see if his favorite books are on sale, in secondhand bookstores. But now a book lover is definitely going to be more pleased because thanks to the growing popularity of self help eBooks, one can find plenty of places where you can get free self help eBooks, on the Internet as these are available as downloadable books.

There was once a time when people did not bother much about e-books, because it was supposedly a technology which could only be understood by techno-savvy people. But that is definitely not the case now; you can get a large number of downloadable books, in almost every genre, on the Internet as cheap eBook. All you have to do is go on the Internet and a little bit of research on the places where you can obtain the e-books of your choice.

Self-help books can either be found in secondhand bookstores or as fresh hardcopies but on the other hand, self help eBooks are definitely going to be completely fresh copies, because they are in electronic HTML format. So it does not matter how old the book is. It has been made in a brand-new fresh new form, and been published again in HTML as cheap eBook. All you have to do is download it, from sites where you get these free self help eBooks, and then start reading it on your computer. That is the reason why free self-help books are one of the most popular downloadable books choices on the Internet today.

Everybody likes something free, and if it is being given to you free of cost, so much the better. In fact, authors are giving away copies of free self help eBooks, in order to entice more people to buy some of their more comprehensive products which can be obtained at a fixed price as cheap eBook. So these marketing strategies are definitely a good way in which you can build up a client list, while making sure that more people know about your product and services. Digital copies of very popular books which were once found only in print can now be found in cheap eBook format as downloadable books. That is the reason why publishers are going in more for self help eBooks, in e-book format instead of printing them out in hardcopy. The best part is that you do not have to pay any sort of shipping charges on these free self help eBooks!

10 Article Writing Quirks

Much has been touted about the effectiveness of article writing in the promotion
of their business. While everyone raves about its benefits I ll look into a few quirks.

  1. Too much junk You ca not even imagine the amount of rehash material that is being passed off as something in which the reader can find valuable. Some writers rush to put out their work putting quantity over quality. It pays to be original when you are into article writing. Well, I have slack up sometimes on this one.
  2. Takes Time Due to the multitude of writers entering this field, it will probably take six months to a year for others to become familiar with you and your writing style. Once this is accomplished you can expect some fans.
  3. High Readership, Low Conversion There has been times when I have published an article that got good readership but fail to convert into respectable sales or subscribers. The resource box is key I found out if you want to improve your conversions.If you do not have a quality article the chances of someone reading your resource box is low and their cursor wo not make it to your website link. When you do get them to view your resource box, your message has to highlight its benefits to get that valued click thru.
  4. Loss of Valuable Links While article writing has been important in boosting my page rank this has not always been the case as I thought. Doing some research on some of my articles through the search engines, I realized that not every webmaster provides a live link in my resource box. Failing to do so is sure to cost some valuable back links.
  5. You could be a victim Of what.Copyism. I have seen articles where the writer lifted a few paragraphs here and there, did a little editing and presto a new article is born. I guess there is no escaping this as it also happens offline.
  6. Lack of Editing It might take you just a few minutes to whip up that latest article but those few minutes might affect the quality of your work. Proof reading and editing can sometimes be painstaking not to mention the submission process especially if done by hand.
  7. Woeful Spellings Got that one. Proper spelling is important as too many mistakes can affect your credibility. You might get away with one but definitely not four.
  8. Grammar This is in the same vein as spelling. If your grammar sounds like that of a toddler, then do not expect readers to be impressed. You do not need to have the writing skills of a poet, but with a little practice and research you can vastly improve.
  9. Sales copy You know these well. Some authors write articles that belong in the classifieds. In their articles they blatantly advertise their services with the hope of readers visiting their website. A benefit laden article will always produce the best results.
  10. Too much links Nothing peeves me than to get an article to run in my newsletter but when I read it through it is littered. These links can confuse the reader and also reduces the potential of your resource box.

These are a few quirks I found to be associated with the writing and promotion of articles. And I did say ten items but I will just throw in an extra. What is it. Go ahead and proceed with your article writing. While there are some negatives it does work. Why would I be writing this one if it did not.