Article-Writing-Services

Top tips for Article Writing

Here are some of the most practical and effective ways of writing an article that will capture the interest of both the clients and the target audience.

Provide useful information

You should be able to address your target audience’s concerns and in one way or another should offer some insights about how to go about them. The context of your article must somehow capture your audience’s interest and not entirely of your own.

Save the advertising for the author resource box

Reject any impulse to project self advertisement as the main context of your article; otherwise, it jeopardizes its credibility. Editors hate the fact that some writers do not know the difference of an article from a press release; and when they see one, they out rightly reject them. Your article’s priority is to give information rather than for advertisement purposes.

Use correct spelling

An erroneous article is good for nothing especially if its primary errors are in spelling. An error free article commands greater credibility.

Be aware of word count

Be sensitive of your readers’ need for brevity. Make your point concise and free from clutters. An ideal online article contains about 300 to 500 words. If you want your articles to really help the readers absorb the information you want to convey, then limit your words without actually limiting the ideas. This pointer is a premise to my next one…

Break up big blocks of text

You must be able to present your most important pointers with big blocks of text arranged in subheadings or bullet points. This is so you could highlight the essential ideas even if the readers are just skimming.

Use an effective framework

Sure there are a couple numbers of ways to write an effective article, but the following contains the most practical article writing framework I have been using in my writing jobs. It helps to get to know these pointers as it might help you along the way just as it does for me. .

1. Heading: Be sure to make an effective heading with a statement that clearly states the general context of the article. For example, efficient ways to lose weight.

2. Teaser paragraph: Include a brief yet beguiling article summary to give your readers the desire to continue reading the article.

3. Body: Use subheadings or bullet points in capturing the main ideas. And make sure to expound the most important things you wish to convey

4. Conclusion: make an effort to give your readers a short wrap-up that sums up the whole thing.

5. Author Resource Box: Make sure to state your identity, your purpose and your target audience. You could even include your website address or any contact details for a more comprehensive profile.

Follow the contributor guidelines

The success of your article also heavily depends on your adherence to the guidelines set forth by your contributor.

You may now start putting into practice whatever you have learned from these tips and witness firsthand if indeed it works.

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Low Cost Market Research

How you can exactly learn and strategize in customizing your product so as to give your market the satisfaction that they deserve. Here are some of the most practical steps in accomplishing market research.

Huge known multinational brands have known for a fact that their products and services have markets that are entirely different from each other, each with varying degree of competition and expectations. This variation is due to the fact that these markets differ in tendencies and propensities; factors that are mainly contributed by demographics and geographic location.

What is true for the big corporations is also generally the same with small businesses; target markets have significantly varying expectations and needs.
There are basically no exemptions; every business is thought to be wise to conduct market research before introducing a product. Resources may be of the essence, but you may still conduct your research at the most practical cost with equally great results.

Consider potential targets

It is important to identify the potential targets. Take for example a business in photography that is making consideration of augmenting its sales on portrait shots. The business proprietor lists down all the potential targets and then grouped them according to a predefined set, which covers the corporate people, small scale proprietors, families and school children.
After much consideration, the business owner concluded that the market from the corporate group is the most viable candidate to expand the business.
That was already a head start; the business owner however must also classify the necessary points to lay down to the decision makers before he even consider committing any marketing and sales materials.
Identify the decision makers – and ring them
In the given example, it would have been safe to conclude that it is the executives who make and call the relevant decisions. A soloist however thinks way better than that. Sure it will bring no further harm to channel his intentions to the company CEO through his PA. It may not necessarily be true but PA’s more often than not are windows of opportunity of a business and most likely books the needed photographer; adding to the fact that they could be the best subject of your market research.

Be prepared

Never allow yourself to be caught off-guard. Have your notes ready way before you make your calls in a market research.
The following are some of the effective question for a photographer to ask in his market research:
• What is your impression of a good photographer?
• When was the last time you had a portrait picture taken?
• What are things in pictures or in processes that you would want to see improved or altered?

No need to jot down everything. You just need to listen with adept ears and you must be able to recognize the hints when your sales pitch is called for.

Use your insights

Make it a point to include in your marketing materials the expectations of the potential target that you happened to gather during your market research. When a potential client openly emphasizes promptness, then he makes sure to mention in his marketing materials about his habit of always being on time.

Market research does not necessarily be too costly. Any research, even the ones done in practical cost range, helps you get a better perspective of your target market.

internetpublicity

Publicity – Free Vs Paid

It helps to be able to know which publicity is paid and which one is free; it hard is to tell sometimes but sure its benefits for your business is great. Here is how you can spot the difference and how to use it for your advantage.

I have a knack for telling and differentiating paid advertisements from free publicity. I developed it while working for more than a decade writing and doing marketing. It may be easy for me to tell the difference but most people find it that hard. Let me help you how it is done, and its benefits:

Paid advertising

It does not take a rocket scientist to recognize a paid advertising material mostly because it is apparent and obvious. Those of course are the materials you see during commercial breaks in TV and radio. These materials are also seen as those colourful publicity materials in some portions of a web page.

Advertorial

These are advertisements that are embedded in an article, mostly being projected as part of an editorial. Sometimes advertorials are presented in the form of news.

Free publicity

This is the kind of publicity of which clients do not necessarily pay for the advertisements they post on any media outlet. This is the job of a PR consultant; to help their clients secure this kind of publicity. This is seen in a form of articles or as news broadcast. Free publicity, despite for being free, is favoured and more trusted by the clients because of the credibility it possesses. Public relations expert make it a point to make good use of the recent news to embed their plans of projecting their clients as experts of the certain field. When the Government announced a significant change in its policies on home buyers’ grant, a number of people from all the other related industries made press releases and signifying their stand on the issue. This is their way of establishing their knowledge and authority to increase their credibility in their area of expertise. A good public relation performance is not having your work recognized once or twice. It is has to be a regular routine of your business. Meaning, you must reach a point when the media people automatically think of you when they are faced with queries on issues related to your area of expertise.

Paid advertising assures you that your products and businesses are advertised exactly the way you want it to be marketed by paying for it. However, it is not entirely credible. Free publicity on the other hand is viewed to be more credible and trusted by the people because of the way it is presented. The thing with free publicity is you really must exert an effort to stand out among your competition so that you will earn your ticket for free advertising.

 

franchising

My Franchise Needs Help!

“No man is an island” as the famous cliché goes. You might have the same thought especially if your business is on the brink of falling into the danger zone. Right now, you might have something in your head that pushes you to think of a source that could help save your business.

“You are not alone”, I often give this statement of truth whenever business owners who bought from franchises would inquire for my professional advice. This is the main justification. Whether a franchisor is a giant like 7 Eleven or a new baby and starter such as Donut King, they equally play a role as urgent proponents whenever a location of their own starts to wane from what is desirable. Apart from analysis, this is what venturing business owners hold onto rather than building and starting on their own business.

From the given facts above, you might be considering to become a franchisee. But before you head start on the said livelihood, it is advisable to cross examine some current franchisees about how their mother company provides and supports their needs and requests despite this challenging economic status. Having to ask an established franchisor about its obligation to the franchisees can also be a part of your to-do list. If you are already a starting franchisee and in this phase you are experiencing downfalls, do not hesitate at all to propose for support from your franchisor. Remember, you are not alone.

Provided below are some of the citations on how franchisors benefit their franchisees:

Initial Training. A franchisor in the beginning phase has the initiative of providing basic education and advanced sales training as part of their support relations and business dealings. If for instance a franchisee has been experiencing distress on the sales, it is but a way of the franchisor’s support to dispatch its own staff members for the troubled. The staff members assist in gathering more customers and help the franchisee to cope through practical training.

Because of authority, the franchisor can also implement mentoring programs to boost the practical knowledge and skills of the franchisee. Furthermore, a franchisor can also hire business experts from outside sources to impart expertise. As a parent company, a franchisor would want to bring the best out of a franchisee. Setting this kind of practice, both of the parties are mutually benefitting from each other.

Marketing Strategies. Marketing gives a stand out factor for consumer product franchises. It is through the power of marketing that a business can captivate many, many customers especially if the strategy is about adding more value and cutting the expenses for them. Creating changes and updates in their advocacies for advertising, even if it is a major risk, set a franchise company to stand out among others despite of the economic hardships.

Some outstanding franchise companies are capable of giving support supplies in order to uplift the franchisees’ sales. Others also develop marketing campaigns for the franchisees’ advantage in order to leave a mark of great publicity to the general public.

Cost Reduction. In order for a business to continue thriving in economic recessions, one strategy a business can employ is to reduce its overall costs as much as possible. Established franchise companies can help their franchisees by negotiating more reasonable prices of the materials from the suppliers, competitively biding for the materials to be used to dramatically reduce their prices and ensuring that spoilage and wastes are kept at a minimum when handling them. The sum will result to a more effective operation.

Direct Monetary Assistance. In some circumstances, the mentioned supports still are not enough to keep a franchisee out from failing. Because of these circumstances, a franchisor can give a direct monetary assistance until the market conditions will recover. An example of which is the reduction of franchise-fee payments and waiving royalties. A franchisor can also extend the terms when the franchisee will buy needed materials and supplies from its mother company. And sometimes, can help to negotiate better terms for the franchisee’s current business loans or leases.

These supports and help are not mandated by the contract between the franchisor and franchisee. It is actually beyond on what is expected from a franchisor under normal market circumstances. It can be because for the best interest of the entire company. And as the years will come, all the efforts will give more profit for the company.

headache-franchise

Headaches with Franchises

Here is the scenario. Investing with a franchise is what you have been thinking for quite a time now; however, there is just one thing that you do not want to compromise with. You affirmatively do not want to be tormented with employees. Existing franchisees confirmed this. Earning good and trusted employees is like one in a million. They are hard to find and yet it is more challenging and resource-exhausting to retain them. This issue has been an argument for the past 15 years for most franchisees.

Consider the aforementioned scenario to be more of a challenge with a readily available solution. If you do not want to deal with employees, then you can purchase a franchise that does not necessitate any of them. On the other side, this scheme may not be capable of embodying your dream business, the business that can reflect your joy and passion. It only embodies basic and typical sales roles. Another downside of it is that it can obligate you to possess specialized skills where only you can fulfill and perform satisfactorily.

I might say that it is not feasible and rational, for practicality’s sake. There are unveiled truths in order to keep you from being tormented by your employees.

  • Initially, decide what franchise companies you will be concentrating on to confine the number. This will lead you to companies that will most likely decrease employee hassles. Distinguish the kind of products and services they render, the number of employees it will need to progress effectively and efficiently and the degree of difficulty to recruit and hire them. Consider the accessibility of the local companies for you to inquire about the current number of employees. Furthermore, take into account the overall appearance of the business environment that can maintain your employees to continuously work there than other comparable business environment.
  • Next is to contemplate on the type of business where the average employees can celebrate on better compensations and benefits. The business should also foster a working environment where the employee skills learned are exclusively for the chosen, and not for the masses. A combination of both factors will give you higher luck on better employee recruitment and retention. Moreover, the cost of recruitment and retention will be lesser as you keep happy and experienced employees in the long run. Most of all, you will gain their loyalty.
  • Lastly, you have the freedom to ask queries from current franchisees about the issue on employee hassles. Take the advantage while you are still performing your investigation. You may question about the number of employees and the ways they maintain them and the compensations associated. You may also ask how they resolve employee dilemmas and if the going gets tough, the estimated finances it require them to recruit new employees. The way they supply you the answers can help you discern whether this type of business can control the problems.

In the event that you emerge as a new franchisee, keep in mind that the related experiences will be on a mainstream first. If existing franchisees are experiencing employee dilemma and if you selected the same franchise, then it will be more probable that you will share the same commonalities as them. If otherwise, then you can hope that neither you will encounter such.

A spark of hope will hit you when you know that a few years back, franchisees do not treat such issues as extensive and burdensome. Yet being ignorant about it the can lead you more harm than desirable, so do some thorough research and discussion about this issue before you venture on a type of business franchise.

officespace

Some Considerations before Subleasing any Office Space

Getting office spaces don’t always have to be a long-term commitment. Subleasing is a very good option, most especially if you are running a small business that’s transitioning from being home-based to brick and mortar. Most rates today are very attractive given any amount of space that you need. Here’re some things you need to know on subleasing before signing that contract.

Consider How much You Need to Pay

A business or company that’s subleasing their space to you is free to charge any amount for rent, theoretically. Technically though, there might be some clauses in their contract with the landlord that might limit their rights to charge for rent. This, however, is not much of a concern for a subtenant such as yourself. In any case, you will be paying less than what the tenant is paying for the space. Moreover, in most parts of the country, the demand for space is so low that a tenant can provide lower rates for rent and are getting more consideration from their landlords. Whatever the case may be, always make sure to look around the market first and keep on negotiating until you get rates that will most suit your budget.

Consider What’s Part of the Package

Aside from the amount of space and sublease terms, another thing that you might want to consider before taking on a contract is what things are included in the package. These can range from parking spaces, use of facilities like the office break room, meeting rooms, and even the use of office equipment.

Another important consideration is that you would need a clear understanding on what your responsibilities are when it comes to repairs. Most of the time, you will be responsible for minor repairs like replacing light bulbs, but the major problems like cracks on the walls, leaks on the roof, or peeling paint are often left to the landlord.

If part of the package also includes a separate entryway leading to your office or a formal divider between offices, always check and make sure that everything in your area of responsibility adheres to all building codes. If there are no separating fixtures, always make sure that there is an understanding of what common areas or equipment you or your employees have access to.

Most of sublease offers also covers other features like security systems and Internet services. This is always to your advantage as you don’t have to set-up your own services or contract other companies or providers to set-up your business for you. Most sublease offers are already ‘plug and play.’

Before Taking on the Offer

Always make sure that you have a lawyer who’s knowledgeable in real estate law. You can have this lawyer review the lease agreement between the landlord and the tenant to ensure that  the tenant has the proper right to offer a sublease agreement to you. Moreover, make sure that you are protected against eviction because once the original tenant gets evicted, you also go along with them.  Through a real estate attorney, you can find out what can happen if the property becomes foreclosed due to the landlord’s inability to pay the mortgage on the property.