5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a CV

 

When applying for a job, the employer meets your curriculum vitae before meeting you; as a result, the CV is usually the first stage of screening. In order to get your dream job or at least make it through the first stage of screening, here are some mistakes you should avoid in your CV:

1. Making Grammatical Errors and Typos

Your CV shows your writing skills and your level of intelligence, so making grammatical errors in your writing can be discouraging. When writing, ensure you have proofread your resume before sending it to your recruiter.

2. Irrelevant Experiences

Experiences that have nothing to do with the position you are applying for should be avoided. Thus, every statement on your resume should be relevant to the current position you are applying for and lead the employer to the conclusion that you have the right qualification for the job.

3. Submitting Incorrect Information

Avoid incorrect information, such as wrong telephone numbers, or even data that are incorrect. You might think the recruiter might overlook such information and may not research it but the person might actually do and find out that you have provided the wrong information.

4. Exaggeration

Don't exaggerate your skills and achievements. At times, you might give some information and it will be clear that it is an exaggeration. The recruiter may be discouraged by this act and simply ignore your CV.

5. Personal Information

Personal information like age, weight, religion or even personal background should be avoided. Information like that is not needed for recruitment and an attempt to give such information might send the wrong signal.

In conclusion, critically scrutinise your CV to avoid grammatical errors and other type of technical errors so you can have a fair chance of being invited for an interview.

5 Social Media Tips for Promoting Your Online Course

 

An online course can cement your status as an industry authority.

The global market for online learning is estimated at $241 billion, thanks to a wide internet reach and increased demand for less-expensive, easily accessible classes.

Online course subjects range from programming and web design to carpentry and baking. If you have exceptional knowledge or skill in a particular area, you can enhance your online reputation by designing your own online course.

Content that delivers real value to your target audience can go viral. Unfortunately, many course creators mistakenly assume that online courses will attract an audience without promotion.

Here’s how to promote your first online course via social media:

1. Start with your own account.

Use social media to generate initial interest for your course. Many of your connections have similar interests or challenges, making them an ideal focus group.

In an interview with Kajabi, Chris Becker, founder of Ketology, says his teachings on healthy weight loss began on Facebook, recalling, “I asked my friends, ‘Hey if you need help, I’m going to do this little challenge.’… my friends started losing weight and then I just thought, let me actually build this into a real thing.”

Becker’s initial success afforded him insights to develop future courses while building a strong word-of-mouth foundation within his niche.

2. Get Facebook group participation.

Facebook pages have experienced notorious declines in organic reach, but that doesn’t mean the platform is no longer viable for reaching your target audience.

Facebook groups help like-minded users to connect on a variety of topics—and they are a great way to get the word out. Keep in mind, however, that you should never join a group purely to promote your course.

You must become an active participant, asking questions and offering advice. Only then can you position yourself as an expert and promote your course—without getting kicked out of the group.

As you share your knowledge, those who benefit from your insights will be drawn to your social media accounts.

3. Offer referral rewards.

Referral programs can help build word-of-mouth for your brand. Potential followers are more likely to respond to posts by family or friends. Your students are more likely to share their experiences on social media if you offer incentives.

These can range from a discount for signing up through a specific link to a free video chat session offering additional tips and personalized insights. Provide extra value, and students will do your social media marketing for you.

4. Use paid ads wisely.

Paid ads can attract new audiences, but that doesn’t mean that you should have them running 24/7 or expect immediate results from a Facebook campaign. Social media advertising requires patience and research.

Make sure you fully understand your target demographic and their interests, and target your ads based on what you learn.

Ensure that your images and text deliver your marketing message. Do A/B testing to gauge which options deliver the highest click-through rate.

As you use these principles to fine-tune your social media marketing, you’ll drive more traffic to your accounts and online courses.

5. Share mini tips.

Only about 10 percent of your content should be promotional. Rather than continually spamming followers to sign up, deliver short tips related to your course content through Instagram posts, live video and more.

For example, Melyssa Griffin of Blog to Biz Training provided short informational posts on her Instagram account about monetizing blogs and increasing productivity, expanding her following and generating traffic for her course.

PR Daily

8 Brainstorming Strategies for Generating New Writing Ideas

 

Writers sometimes experience a shortage of writing ideas, chaotic floods of ideas or no ideas at all, which stalls writing projects. If you are experiencing this writers' peeve, try these proven brainstorming strategies to generate or organize new topic ideas, approaches and revive your stalled projects.

 

1. Freewriting

Freewriting involves letting your thoughts flow freely on paper or your computer screen. Set aside a time frame like 15 minutes for writing or determine to write and fill a certain number of pages and get down to it. Write whatever comes to your mind. Don’t worry about typos, spelling or any other surface-level issues of grammar and style. Just write until your time is up or your page goal is attained.

When you are done, read through what you have written. You will no doubt find a lot of filler in your text, but there will also be golden nuggets of insights, discoveries and other little gems in there that you can pick out and develop for your projects. Even if you don’t discover any new idea nuggets, you will stir up your creative mind and unearth tit bits of raw concepts buried deep in your mind you can develop.

 

2. Looping

Looping takes freewriting a step further with the aim of zeroing in on raw ideas and insights buried deep in your subconscious mind. Move in loops between one free writing exercise of between five and 10 minutes and another until you have a sequence of several freewriting pieces. Make sure you adhere to the rules of freewriting in this exercise so that each result is more specific than the other.

Read through what you have produced in all the freewriting looping cycles and analyse all interesting sentences, ideas or phrases. You will likely discover a recurrent topic idea or theme you are unconsciously thinking about has taken precedence. You can develop this topic idea or theme and use it in your next writing project.

 

3. Listing

If you want to write about a specific topic or communicate a certain idea, jot down a list of single words and phrases that relate to the general topic you are thinking about off the top of your mind. For example, if you are thinking about producing a work of fiction, make separate lists of elements, characters or scenes you want to convey. If you are writing nonfiction, list facts, arguments, question or any other related ideas you want to cover.

Don’t outline or edit at this point. Let the activity be uninhibited. When you are finished listing, group the items on your lists in a logical manner and provide a label for each group. Write a sentence about each group and you will have several topic or theme sentences you can develop. Build on the topic sentences and define associations of the groups to get broader topics or themes with possible points to write on.

 

4. Clustering

Clustering, also known as idea mapping, is a strategy used to explore relationships and associations between ideas. If you have run out of ideas on a subject or topic, write down the subject in the center of a page. Highlight the subject either by underlining or circling it. Think of an idea that relates to the subject and jot it down on your page. Link the idea to the central subject.

Think of another idea that relates to the new idea you just created. Link this new idea with the previous idea. Repeat the process until you have a web of ideas on the page that are all derived from the main subject. Now you can visually see ideas that relate to your main subject. Identify clusters of ideas that interest you and use the key terms you attached to them as the departure points for your writing project.

 

5. Nut-shelling

Nut-shelling entails discovering and laying out in a few sentences the gist of topic ideas in your head. It helps you distinguish major and minor ideas in your thoughts and identify how the ideas relate to each other. This way you are able to test how different ideas can affect what you want to write about.

Pretend you are being interviewed by someone and they want to know what you want to write about. Start your explanation with a phrase like “I want to write about...” or “I want to show….” Put down your answer concisely in writing. Make your answer no more than two or three sentences maximum to capture the essence of your topic and you will have just developed your topic statement or premise for what you are thinking about writing.

 

6. Cubing

Cubing is a critical thinking process that involves examining a writing project from six distinct angles to generate ideas for your stalled projects. Describe your project: What is it? What is it like or unlike? What makes up its constituents? How can it be used? Finally, what are its pros or cons or how can you oppose or support it? At the end of the exercise you should have an angle or outline on how to approach your writing topic or project.

 

7. Journalistic 5W’s and 1H

When researching a story and the angle to take when covering the story, journalists ask the 5W’s and 1H questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Use the same technique to generate topic ideas, possible angles to take on the topic and the most pertinent information to include when addressing the topic.

Write each of the question words on a sheet of paper and leave spaces to provide answers for the questions. Answer all the questions relating to your topic in brief and then review the answers. Do you have more to say about one or more of the questions, such as more on the "where" and "why" than the "what" or are your answers evenly balanced?

You will discover that you know more or little about particular question words relating to your topic. Leverage that awareness to generate new writing ideas. Research your topic further to improve on areas you are least knowledgeable in, build on areas you are most knowledgeable in or the best way to organize what you already know to balance your topic more.

 

8. Researching

Visit the library or go to a writing center near you and browse dictionaries, thesauruses, guide books and any other reference texts that you find. You will be surprised at how much background information, little-known facts and golden topic ideas relevant to your writing projects reference books can give.

Write down past or current events relating to your writing subject, historical or contemporary issues surrounding your topic and any other relevant information you gather in your library research for use in your projects. Also, browse online versions of the dictionaries and reference books to add to the ideas you have already collected.

If one of these strategies doesn’t work, move on and try another until something clicks. Oftentimes, it is a combination of these brainstorming strategies that yields the best results.

 

David K. William is a web writer, publisher and designer. He writes and publishes articles, reports and fiction for web and print media. David is also founding editor of WebWriterSpotlight.com.

Top 10 Tips for Being a Successful Poet

 

Sir Andrew Motion is an English poet and novelist who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.

He has been awarded several poetry awards, including the Arvon Prize, the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. He was knighted for his services to literature in 2009.

Here are his top 10 tips for being a successful poet.

1. Let your subject find you

My parents were not writers and they didn’t really read very much either. My Dad once told me he had only read half a book in his life. I had a wonderful English teacher called Peter Way. He walked straight into my head, turned all the lights on and he gave me my life really.

When I was 17, quite soon after I started tinkering around with poems, my mother had a very bad accident, which eventually killed her. So I found myself wanting to express my feelings about that in ways that were relieving to me.

It sounds a slightly self-aggrandising thing to say, but I’ve always thought that death was my subject. You don’t find your subject, it finds you. Writing poems for me is not simply a matter of grieving, though very often it is that, it’s wanting to resurrect or preserve or do things that pull against the fact of our mortality.

2. Tap into your own feelings

I never quite believe it when poets say that they’re not writing out of their own feelings, and when that is the case, I tend not to be terribly interested in what they’re doing.

I don’t mean to say that they are writing bad poems, but those aren’t the poems that I like most. The poems I most like are where the engine is a very emotional one, where the warmth of strong feeling is very powerfully present in the thing that is being given to us. I think poetry is a rather emotional form and when it isn’t that, I’m not very interested in it.

3. Write about subjects that matter to you

I didn’t always cope with being commissioned very happily as Poet Laureate to tell the truth. The best poems get written, not by going in the front door of the subject, but round the back or down the chimney or through the window.

‘Tell all the truth but tell it slant,’ said Emily Dickinson and that’s always been a very important remark for me. It can be quite difficult to do that if you’re standing in a very public place.

People who live in public, as I very suddenly found myself doing, can get very bruised in the process if they’re not used to it. I found all that public stuff extremely difficult to deal with. I never wanted to cut myself off, but wish I had devised better ways of protecting myself.

4. Celebrate the ordinary and be choosy

Honour the miraculousness of the ordinary. What we very badly need to remember is that the things right under our noses are extraordinary, fascinating, irreplaceable, profound and just kind of marvellous.

Look at the things in the foreground and relish stuff that can lose its glow by being familiar. In fact, re-estranging ourselves to familiar things seems to be a very important part of what poetry can do.

If you can, be choosy about what you do, so that the things you do write are the things that you do best.

5. Use everything in your toolbox

I haven’t written a rhyming poem now for many years, I seem to have lost my appetite for it but I haven’t lost my pleasure in reading them. I think anybody that insists on the presence of rhyme is really not thinking hard enough about what poetry is or can be.

Having said that, it is important to bear in mind that as poets we have a kind of toolbox, in which there are all kinds of different pieces of equipment, not available to any other kind of writer and rhyme is very importantly one of those.

So never to use rhyme in your poetry would be a bit like buying a car and never getting out of second gear. Use everything in your toolbox.

6. If you get stuck, go for a walk or wash your hair

Wordsworth once said that the act of walking was closely related to the creative process. I do love walking and if I get stuck I go for a walk or if I don’t have much time, I wash my hair – it seems to wake my brain up!

Even when I’m on a hair washing day, rather than a walking day, I walk up and down my study, just to get myself going.

Poems are so crucially to do with the movement of words through a line or a series of lines, and that is just as important as their shape and the way that we understand them I think.

7. Let your work be open to interpretation

People will interpret your poetry in different ways, but provided the interpretation that is brought to the poem isn’t plainly bonkers, I actually enjoy that, I rather hope for it.

Your poem can be a world in which your readers can go and live themselves and seek out things which resonate for them. And it would be completely bonkers of me to try to restrict their reaction.

In Auden’s beautiful eulogy for Yeats, he said, ‘He became his admirers,’ and I think that’s kind of what he had in mind actually. You give your work over to your readers and provided they’re not crazy, it’s absolutely open to them what they find in it.

8. Read your poetry out loud

Reading your poetry out loud is crucial and absolutely indispensable because wherever we reckon the meaning of a poem might lie, we want to admit that it’s got as much to do with the noise it makes when we hear it aloud, as it has to do with what the words mean when we see them written down on the page.

In a really fundamental way, I think poetry is an acoustic form and we’ve slightly forgotten that in the last thousand years. Since the invention of the book, the aliveness of poetry has been perhaps slightly pushed to the edge of things.

9. Find the right time to write

Find your own writing time. Everybody will have a slightly different time of day, I have yet to meet the person who thinks the early afternoon is good, but I expect there is someone out there who thinks that that’s a good idea.

For me it’s very early in the morning, partly because the house is quiet and partly because I feel I’m stealing a march on things and that makes me feel good.

I think there might be some kind of hook up between what happens in our minds when we’re asleep and writing imaginative material. I think good poems get written, as no doubt good paintings get painted, as a result of these two things coming together in an appropriate way.

10..Read a lot, revise and persevere

Read lots, write lots of course too, but assume that your first thoughts are not your best thoughts, so revise, revise, revise and don’t expect every poem to work, because it won’t.

Don’t go live in an ivory tower. Read the newspapers and involve yourself in the world – where do you think subjects come from if not the world?

Persevere. I think right at the beginning of your writing life you really have to accept that within a few years, or possibly even a few months, you are going to be able to wallpaper quite a large room with rejection slips. But don’t let that put you off – if you’ve got it, you’ve got it!

Culled from BBC

How to Overcome Writer's Block

 

How do you overcome writer's block? Writer's block is every writer's nightmare. You sit down to write only to discover nothing is forthcoming. You rack and rack your brain to no avail. Worry no more. I've got some tips that will take away this nightmare called "Writer's block".

To overcome writer's block, you need to identify the causes.

What Are the Causes of Writer's Block?

1. Inconsistency in writing and reading.
2. Lack of knowledge in the field you intend to write on.
3. Lack of adequate words/vocabulary to express the subject matter.
4. Lack of creativity.

How to overcome writer's block

Be consistent in writing and reading

Waiting till you have a job to write or publish something is a bad habit. Farmers don't wait till harvest time before they plant. You need to be consistent in writing and reading. Someone would ask, "How do I get topics to write on?"

Keep a notepad (soft or hardcopy)

When an idea or a topic strikes your mind, write it down and build on it later. It can be a word, a phrase, a sight anything that catches your fancy at that point. If you do not write them down you might forget. Don't just note them. Go back and expound on them later.

Read other people's work and write your own ideas on the topic

For example, a writer writes about "the sun's beauty", how the sun is so beautiful and gives light to all. You can decide to write about the same sun in another way, like "someone's sun is set", telling of how the success of something, someone, or a situation has ended. It is still the same "sun" idea.

Do a writing/reading challenge

You can set goals. For instance: thirty days writing/reading challenge on selected or random topics. The challenge could be reading at least two chapters a day or writing at least five hundred words a day for the stipulated period of time. However you wish to do it, make it feasible. Get an accountability partner if need be. Be disciplined. When you do these consistently, you are building your writing skills.

Gather knowledge in the field you intend to write on

Little or no idea about the topic or field you are writing on gives you writer's block. Make some research on the topic and familiarize yourself with it. Be open to learning and unlearning. Do not be rigid.

Learn new words and vocabulary to express the topic

In linguistics, there is the term "register". It is language used in a particular context. There is a register for whatever field your topic falls into. Limitation in the vocabulary of that field causes a block. Throw off some of your limitations by learning new words and vocabulary.

Be creative

Trying not to make mistakes or not trying out new things will give you a block. You need to be creative. In a bid to be creative, you will definitely make mistakes. And that's OK. Learn from your mistakes and bring out the best. As a story writer, you can not afford to be boring. Play with words. Use your poetic license to write unique and beautiful stories.

Try all these out and say bye to writer's block.

 

Ajimuda Evelyn Temitayo is a writer, poet and blogger. She is a creative who brings imaginations alive.

 

10 Great Writing Tips from Authors

 

Writing success boils down to hard work, imagination and passion—and then some more hard work. Use these tips as an inspirational guide—or better yet, print a copy to put on your desk, home office, refrigerator door, or somewhere else noticeable so you can be constantly reminded not to let your story ideas wither away by putting off your writing.

 Tip 1: "Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution." — Michael Moorcock

 Tip 2: "In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it." — Rose Tremain

 Tip 3: "Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever." — Will Self

Tip 4: "Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 5: "Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out—they can be got right only by ear)." — Diana Athill

 Tip 6: "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov

 Tip 7: "Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends' embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there's prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too." — Sarah Waters

 Tip 8: "Be your own editor/critic. Sympathetic but merciless!" — Joyce Carol Oates

 Tip 9: "Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful." — Elmore Leonard

 Tip 10: "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." — Neil Gaiman

Even famous authors sometimes have a tough time with writing; they also go through periods of self-doubt. Despite this, they always manage to come up with the goods. So, take a lesson from them and stop putting off your writing plans and get started on your publishing journey today.

 

There has never been a better time than now to realize your dream of becoming a published author. Let your voice be heard and let your story be told. Never let your passion for writing wane. Let Sons of Issachar Publishing help make your dreams come true.

 

Tips to Enjoy your writing

 

Many writers like me will always claim we enjoy writing. I tell friends writing is my life and that I don’t think I can do any other thing except write. One might be forced to think I even write in my sleep. But is that really true? Sometimes, we get tired and wary of what we love, no matter how much we love it. Sometimes, I don’t even want to stare into another computer screen and I wish I don’t ever have to write again. So how do I beat this feeling?

Here are some tips that have worked:

1. Clear your head: Sometimes, external pressures are the reason we do not enjoy our writing. There is absolutely no way a person who does not know where his next meal will come from will enjoy writing or doing anything he loves doing. This is something many upcoming writers face. So, what is the solution? There is no cut out way to keep your problems out of your head, but at least you can try. Create your island out of your limited resources by clearing your head because your writing is an extension of your mental state.
2. Stick with what you love: Yes, sometimes we are forced to write on things that are outside our comfort zone. For instance, if I had my way, I will never write another article like this in my life, but I have to get paid. So, what can we do in this situation? Start by writing what you love most to get your creative juices flowing. Whenever I don’t feel like writing, I open a blank word sheet and start writing a short story. It works like a dead car battery that needs a little push to pick up again. Once the juices start flowing, I switch to what I have to write.
3. Reward yourself: For someone like me, I get paid to write. That might be a reward, but that’s not enough reward for me (I know, I can be greedy.) So, what do I do? I set a reward for myself if I can deliver something superb. For instance, it is my lunchtime but I have told myself I would not have lunch till I am done with this article. Note that this is what works for me. For some people in order to get to the lunch quickly, they might just write something below par. By the way, don’t do this when you are writing something long like a novel, or you might just die before you finish. The point is, look for a just reward for yourself, something you are looking forward to when you are done. It can serve as motivation.
4. Try Music: A friend of mine recently discovered Classical music puts her in the mood to punch vigorously on her keypads. I tried it and I felt like jumping off the bridge. So, you have to be careful with the genre of music as not everything works for anyone. But music improves cognition and enhances your memory. It digs deep into things stuck in your head and brings them out for you. So, know the genre that works for you and listen to a lot of it before you start any writing task.
5. Take Time off: Not too much time, but sometimes no matter how much you apply the above points, it probably will not still work out for you. So, take time off to either try to solve your problems or get into a reflective mindset.

Finally, we must recognize that we do better whenever we enjoy what we do. So, make it a point of duty to have some fun writing.

Samuel Ejedegba.

7 branding mistakes your company should avoid

 

Your brand is your promise, and it's important that you build it thoughtfully and deliberately. A brand has never been successfully established by simply uploading a good-looking logo and writing a few lines on social platforms. To create a real identity, brands have to invest a lot of time and effort. There's research to be done, competitors to be identified, and expert professionals to be consulted. Every business should learn what branding is and why it's needed. Whether you're starting a new business or have already established one, mistakes are unavoidable. However, here are 7 mistakes brands make that you'd be wise to avoid.

1. Failure to research the competition

This is especially important if you are a new business. Researching the competition helps you understand what established businesses in your industry have done: where they have failed, where they have succeeded and where you can give your brand an advantage. Your research should include products, services, target audiences, websites and social platforms. If you don't, this could trip you up in two ways: first, being unable to judge the competition properly and second, replicating a competitor's strategies without truly understanding them.

2. Failure to understand your target audience

Before you start selling or even pitching, you've got to understand what kind of audience you're speaking to. You should understand their demands, their expectations, the things they identify with and the kinds of brands they favor. Once you do find your target audience, branding and messaging will get a lot easier.

3. Taking feedback from the wrong sources

Depending on the type of product or service you're looking to sell and the market you want to cover, you'll need to take feedback from the right sources. Limiting your sources to positive reviews won't help you set or measure appropriate goals. Friends, family members, employees and relatives might give you positive reviews no matter what, so think before accepting reviews from them. For any modern brand, the best platform for reviews includes both social media and review sites.

4. It's not just about logo redesign

As already stated, branding's not just about a logo or a tagline. Branding constitutes everything that you represent—even your company's voice and the style of content you create. You will find an audience when you have a competitive advantage and a distinct style. Without that, there's no value!

Some companies rebrand and spend thousands of dollars on logo redesign but not enough on other brand assets. For example, an online fashion brand can't boost sales by just changing its logo design. To build a profitable e-commerce brand, it should focus on its customer care team, product quality, advertising (both online and offline), competitive pricing, and many other factors.

Here's a real-world example. When Marissa Mayer became Yahoo's CEO, she decided to change the logo of the company. It made for big hype among the users, marketers, bloggers and everyone else. But when Yahoo finally unveiled its new logo, all expectations were crushed. It wasn't terrible... but it wasn't exciting, either. It turned out to be just a minor change that didn't bring any significant growth to the Yahoo brand.

5. Inconsistency

Brand consistency has a tremendous impact on your business. Consistency helps build familiarity, loyalty and eventually, credibility. Be consistent with your promotions, personality, communication and every other interaction you make with your audience.

For example, Coca-Cola might just be the most consistent brand in history. Its logo has hardly changed in 130 years. Everyone recognizes its fun-in-the-sun summer campaigns and heartwarming Christmas campaigns. The brand has built such loyalty that no other soda can beat it—even when Pepsi famously won blind taste tests with consumers. Now in the digital age, Coca-Cola has built a huge audience of followers on social media, so it's quite easy to reach its target audience wherever they may be.

6. Not focusing on first impressions

There's no logic in trying to get an audience before you've established what your brand is about. Branding is the first step to entering the marketplace, and you should prioritize it before trying to make money. The first impression is always the product packaging design—the first point of contact between your brand and the customer.

Don't be in a hurry to change the packaging design of your products. Sometimes, it might cost you a fortune. In 2009, Tropicana changed its packaging design and invested $35 million in advertising. Later, consumers rejected the new packaging and Tropicana recorded a loss of $30 million. Pretty quickly, the company decided to revert back to the old packaging design.

7. Not having a Plan B

There are many businesses that think a brand is something you establish and then it takes care of itself. Today, that's completely untrue. You should constantly refine and revise your offerings to deliver better quality and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Not all branding strategies will work the first time. In those instances, you need to be ready with a second plan to ensure that recovery is immediate.

Managing a brand is not an easy thing. But you must always understand that your business is more than just its products and services. Success depends on the way you shape the experience of your customers. This is what defines your brand identity. Once you've established trust in your brand, you'll never want to look back.

Culled from: Lucid Press

How to Write First Thing in the Morning

As I write these words, it’s a little after 4:00 a.m. and my wife and kids are sleeping. The house is dark and quiet, with no TV or music playing, no conversation to distract the voice in my head.

It’s the perfect writing environment, for me at least.

When we write, we are speaking with a voice in our heads, and that voice is communicated through our fingertips and onto paper or the digital whitespace. The more noise that’s around us, the more difficult it is to hear our voice.

That’s why the morning has always been my favorite time to write, before anyone awakes, before traffic starts up or the chickens start making crowing noises. It’s the still of early morning that allows my voice to come through.

 

Why Write So Early?

Sure, it can be done at any time of day. For some people, noise is a welcome relief from the heavy silence. For others, the quiet of late night is preferred. I won’t argue with these people, as everyone has to find a writing time that works for them

 But here’s why “first thing in the morning” works for me (and that doesn’t have to be 4:00 a.m. — it can be whenever you awake):

 It’s quiet. For me, that’s super important. There’s no better time than when the world is still asleep.

Work hasn’t gotten in the way. By mid-morning or afternoon, a ton of stuff has come up that must be done now … pushing back the writing. First thing in the morning, nothing has come up to push back my writing.

Life hasn’t gotten in the way. It’s not just work that pushes back writing, but everyday stuff, like errands and paying bills and parties and family and kids. If you wait until the evening to write, what happens when a social engagement comes up that evening? Writing gets postponed.

Tips for Writing Early in the Morning

So you want to write in the morning … but need some suggestions? No problem. Here are my favorite tips:

Wake earlier. If you normally wake up just in time to start getting ready and then head out the door, you’ll need to wake earlier to make time for writing. That’s why I wake at 4:00 or 4:30 … it gives me a good two hours. Wake just a little earlier at a time — see my tips on doing this here.

Topic. Don’t wake up in the morning with no idea what you’re going to write about. Have your topic chosen and give it a little thought the night before. It’s great to sleep on it anyway — let your subconscious do the work for you.

Research. Do your research the afternoon or evening before. That way, you’re ready to write and don’t have to be distracted by going online to look something up. Just look everything up the day before, and save it all to a text file, so you can write without having to go online.

Start with an outline. It’s hard to just start writing with a blank screen staring at you. So I start typing out notes or an outline, so that it gets my brain and my fingers moving. Once I’ve done that, the actual writing is much easier.

Don’t check email. Whatever you normally have the urge to do first thing in the morning … resist the urge. For me, that’s email. But that can take an hour of your time, and then your morning writing time has been pushed back again. Instead, close your email program and just have the writing program open. Resist the urge!

Have it open. I like to have my writing program open (I use WriteRoom, for its lack of distractions) so that it’s right there when I wake up. I put the title on the screen, along with any research I might have done the day before. Then everything is ready to go … I just need to start writing.

Get a glass of water or coffee. Before I start writing, I make my coffee and drink a glass of water. The water gets me hydrated, and the coffee makes the morning writing experience that much more enjoyable.

Focus. While you’re writing, resist the urge to go on the Internet or play games or watch TV or get up and do something else. It takes a lot of practice, but with practice, you’ll get good at focusing on the writing at hand. Practice makes perfect.

Check email (or another reward) when you’ve done an hour. If you tell yourself that you will be able to check email (or whatever it is you have the urge to do) after one hour of writing — or until you’re done with the thing you’re writing, whichever is sooner — you’ll be motivated to get your writing done. Then you can reward yourself with email (or whatever) and feel good about it.

I think you’ll find that writing early in the morning is a habit that will make you a better and more productive writer.

 

Credit: Write to Done

Creating the Perfect Antagonist

 

Creating the perfect antagonist is as difficult as creating a protagonist. If you pick up a children’s book about superheroes, you will notice one thing about the antagonists in the book, there is usually no deep motivation behind their actions. Most times it is about “taking over the world”, which works for children but not for adults. Your antagonist must be multi-dimensional and his motivation must be believable to the reader. So since “taking over the world” doesn’t work for adults, how can you create the perfect antagonist?

1. Give them a human side: Many people write antagonists as a device to move their plot forward. It is so clear the antagonist is in the story simply because the protagonist is there. This does not work. Flesh out your antagonist and give him or her a genuine motivation for doing what he or she does. Let your reader empathize with this evil character and come to the conclusion that if he was in the antagonist’s shoes, he will probably do the same thing. The best way to give your antagonist a genuine motivation is by giving him a history an everyday reader can relate to. A painful childhood, abusive parents, a mental illness, etc. However, if your antagonist is not human, try to give it a human touch.
2. No one is purely evil: As stated earlier, this is for children. Many times, our villains become caricatures or just simply cliché. Pure evil is dull and predictable and this should not be how you write an antagonist. George RR Martin’s “A Song with Ice and Fire” books give us a classic villain test. There are a lot of Villains in these books, from the Night King to Cersei and Jamie Lannister to Little Finger and so on. But the villains the readers love the most? Cersei and Jamie of course. Why? Because they are the only two written from their point of view. The reader gets to see the world from their own eyes, and note that no one is evil in his own mind.
3. Abstracts do not work: You might be tempted to make your antagonist a corporation or a company or some form of organization. Truth is, readers cannot relate to this. So what do you do? Give that entity a face. If it is an organization, the CEO can be the face or if it’s an evil secret society, the leader of that occult can be the face. George Orwell’s 1984 stresses the importance of having a face. The Insoc Party was obviously the antagonist in the story, but then there were Big Brother and others like O’Brian who represented the party.
4. Don’t make your Antagonist a wimp: While the protagonist is the hero and will ‘win’ in the end, it is important to make your antagonist equally capable or even more capable than your hero in some areas. There is a lot of tension when the reader knows that his beloved hero can be outclassed by this villain, especially if your hero has flaws and the villain is superior in those areas. For instance, if your hero is impulsive, having a calculating genius as a villain will make for good reading.
5. Give your mysterious Antagonist Proxies: If you are writing a book where the antagonist is a mysterious character, your reader should not know till a certain point. It is wise to give him proxies or pawns that the protagonist can deal with before he gets to the final battle. Also, creatively throw the readers off your scent by placing dummy villains here and there. For instance, if there is a secret killer in the village and no one knows who it is (even your reader), it is wise to keep the reader’s mind wandering by throwing clues in the wrong direction. Let your reader be convinced this killer is other people rather than the actual killer. This is difficult to do, but if properly done, could make a classic crime fiction.
6. The antagonist is not always evil: Think of someone in your life who is holding you back from doing what you want to do because he or she feels they know better? They believe this decision to hold you back is for your good. This person is an antagonist. A husband that does not want his wife to work because he is protecting her, a parent choosing a career for their child despite their child wanting something else, etc. These antagonists love your main characters and their actions are not from a place of malice. That’s another superb quality you can give your antagonist.

 

Samuel Ejedegba.

6 Unique Corporate Event Ideas

 

Because corporate events can be quite boring and often planned without too much thought – here are 6 unique corporate event ideas for you to use to engage your employees and share the joy internally!

#1 Visit a Local Producer

Take your team for a fun and educational experience at a local vineyard or brewery – or for a non-alcoholic alternative head to a farm or local market to see where local produce comes from.

#2 Arrange a “Family Day”

Plan a carnival or fair for your employees to enjoy with their family. This is a great way to connect their work-life with their family-life.

#3 Plan a Company Ball or Costume Party

Plan a classy ball or costume party for your employees. It is a fun and creative way to get them to relax and socialise – and perhaps even compete for a ‘best costume’ prize!

#4 Celebrate the Holidays Together

Since it’s considered the season of giving, plan a Christmas charity event and give different departments the opportunity to raise money for homeless shelters or food banks.

#5 Plan a Volunteering Activity

Get your team of employees together to volunteer for a cause of their choice. Plan something where your company and its employees can ‘give back’. It’s a worthwhile team-building experience!

#6 Break a World Record

This will inspire and motivate your team and give employees the opportunity to create a long-lasting legacy for their company. Breaking a world record is quite the achievement – something that you can keep trying each year!

Culled from: Azavista

6 Tips For Effective Event Promotion

 

Would you like to conduct an effective event promotion? Let’s take your hand and walk you through it.

Read on.

One of the best ways that you can get your business in front of potential customers is by hosting an event. They can come in many shapes and forms, from seminars and debates to conferences and exhibitions, but they all serve the same goal of getting people who are important to your company into the same room and interacting with one another.

As this article from Forbes (emphasis mine) outlines, an event can make your business more familiar to people and help your brand to become more approachable. It’s a chance for you to show your customer base how much you value them by providing quality speakers and content. Your event can also provide valuable time for networking between people who probably wouldn’t have connected otherwise.

However, the main challenge for you as an organiser comes when you have to get your event out there in front of its intended audience. Without effective promotion, the value of whatever you are planning will plummet, taking a lot of your brand’s credibility with it. Taking this into account, let’s take a closer look at our top six pointers for effectively promoting your event.

6 tips for effective event promotion

1. Plan ahead (way ahead)

You should be looking to plan your event with enough time to comfortably organise the agenda and promote it. There is no set recommendation for this, and how long you need can depend on a number of factors. For example, large events will require a lot more time to organise, as well as needing extra time to advertise if you are targeting a high number of attendees. Furthermore, a public event will need wider and more intensive promotion compared to a private affair. You need to take these things into account and set a date you know gives you plenty of time to organise.

2. Find sponsors and use them to aid promotion

Even though the main role of your event sponsors is to provide funding, they can play a valuable role in its promotion too. If your brand is growing and in need of a helping hand to boost your event’s profile, securing a well-known partner can be a valuable asset. Not only could their name grab potential attendees’ attention, but they can use their considerable network of influence to further the reach of your promotion. They have a vested interest in more people seeing their own branding, so they should be more than willing to assist you in increasing awareness.

If you don’t quite know where to start looking for a sponsor, a service like SponsorMyEvent can put your event in front of a large audience of companies looking to do exactly that.

3. Get your event infrastructure in place

In order to conduct an effective event promotion, before you begin you will need to create a landing page or website where people can be directed to get full details, as well as to book their place. If you don’t have the expertise to do this or your website doesn’t have the capability for ticket sales, consider using an automated system, such as EventStop, which has an easy landing-page setup and will allow you to conveniently manage attendance of your event. Not only will it allow people to pay any fees themselves, but its registration, tracking, and reporting features mean that you don’t have to dedicate a whole team of staff to tracking everything, freeing them up for more pressing tasks.

4. Use social media to get the word out

Once you’ve got somewhere to direct people, you can begin to promote the event across your brand’s social media accounts. If you start this effective event promotion process early, you can use the booking of speakers and the addition of sponsors as an excuse to update your message across different platforms. Always remember to share the link to your website, while getting your sponsors to share your posts or create their own about your event. Furthermore, you should always be ready to interact with anyone who comments or asks questions about your social media posts as this will help you to look approachable while fielding essential questions.

5. Use direct marketing to reach everyone else

Another way of letting your customers know about your event is by carrying out a targeted email campaign, where you send out personalised invites directly to their inbox. This is useful if you’ve built up a large customer database over the years or if you have access to the details of people whom you know will be interested in attending your event.

6. Hold a detailed review of your event

Once the dust has settled on what has (hopefully) been a successful event, it’s important that you get your promotion team together and have a closer look at what they did well and what could have been done better. The findings from this kind of review can be used to inform how you go about publicising your events in the future, allowing you to operate much more effectively without wasting resources on things that don’t work.

Follow the six tips in this article and you will be well on your way to planning and promoting a very successful and well-attended event.

How To Market A Paid Event

 

When businesses and organizations have a product, service, idea or cause to promote, they often host paid events for their target markets to attend. Paid events include conferences, networking events, trade shows, webinars, virtual conferences, teleseminars, retreats, seminars and charity. Businesses and organizations attempt to increase event registrations by gaining exposure through online and offline advertising efforts.

1.

Use your existing email list to begin marketing your paid event, if you’ve already acquired email addresses from individuals who have purchased products or services from your company in the past, asked to receive information and updates about your company or its programs and events. Your in-house marketing list is composed of people who have expressed interest in what you do or offer, so they’re the most likely audience for your paid event.

2.

Search for companies who offer complementary products and services, and whose target markets are similar to yours. Find out if they offer advertising placements in their email newsletters or on their websites. If they do, cross-promote your events, products or services, if you have a similar size readership, or purchase advertising space to promote your paid event.

3.

Include information on your company website about the paid event you’re hosting. Add a call-out box of text to the top of the website with the name of the event, two or three sentences that state the purpose of the event, its location, time and a contact number or email address. Make the area clickable so that it goes to a portable document file that details information about your event and registration, or a full web page that includes a sales letter about the event and registration instructions.

4.

Hire a writer to craft a press release you can send to the media about your event. Determine which members of the media, including bloggers, are most likely to have audiences who would attend your event, and then email your press release to them. Your press release should direct people to the area on your website that discusses the event, as well as provide them with a way to get in contact with you for interviews and questions.

5.

Send an email to local business, professional and community organizations, announcing your event, if your event topics are relevant to the groups’ members. Include a link to the page on your website where you’re advertising the event and registration information.

6.

Use social media to push the message about your paid event. Begin posting about the event before registration starts, so that people are already aware that it’s coming soon. Post links to your event information and registration pages, upload videos promoting the event and even host trivia about topics related to the event to get people on your social media networks excited about registering for your event.

7.

Advertise your event in print advertising on a local or national level, depending on the purpose of your event and your target market. Magazines, newspapers and newsletters that target the audience you want to attend can help you increase registrations. You can also send printed invitations and event information to individuals who you already have on your address mailing list, similar to the email marketing message you send.

8.

Get excited about your event and show potential attendees your excitement by developing a series of videos to promote the event. You can use the information to introduce the purpose of the event, highlight guest speakers or showcase testimonials from individuals who attended your events in the past. Use these videos on your website, blog, event-specific websites, in your press releases, email marketing and on your social media profiles.

9.

Offer incentives for signing up early to help increase registration during the initial sign-up stages. You can announce a giveaway that only first responders are eligible for, or you can offer a discount on the registration fee for early bird registrations.

Five Habits to Avoid in Fiction Writing

 

As with personal documents or academic writing, fiction writing can be challenging. Our editors have encountered five problems on a regular basis. By avoiding these habits, your fiction writing will be greatly improved.

1. Generic verbs and nouns

Imagine trying to paint everything in the world using just four colors. The results would probably look pretty generic. When you are a writer, your language is your medium. People, places, and things (i.e., nouns) have names, and it's your job to know what they are.

Precise nouns work wonders in fiction writing because nouns have connotations or meanings that go beyond their dictionary definitions. If one character gives another character flowers, tell readers what kind of flowers. Are they tulips or columbines or snapdragons or peonies? This information could hint at what time of year it is (tulips are pretty scarce in September) and could also tell us something about the character who gives the flowers. Four dozen roses are expensive—does this person have money or like to show off? A bouquet of wildflowers might have come from the character’s backyard—perhaps this person likes to garden.  

A similar thought process should be applied to the selection of verbs. There are at least 12 synonyms for the verb to laugh, and each one evokes a specific image. A character could express amusement by cackling, chortling, chuckling, giggling, guffawing, snickering, sniggering, tittering, crowing, whooping, simpering, or smirking.

Precise verbs contribute greatly to characterization. If a man walks into a room, all your readers know is that he has entered. He could be anybody. But if he limps in, right away readers want to know if he is old or injured or tired. If he runs in, readers know he is energetic or excited about some piece of news. If he swaggers, readers wonder if he is full of himself or perhaps just drunk.

2. The exception: He said, she said

Reading good dialogue makes readers feel like they're actually listening in on a real conversation. Because of this, it can be very disruptive if the author keeps butting in to tell readers that the speaker intoned or declared or asserted or retorted. It may seem like using "said" repeatedly in dialogue tags is repetitive, but in fact the little word is so inconspicuous, it just fades into the background—which is exactly what we want when we're trying to listen in on a good conversation.

The rare deviation is fine (asked, in particular, seems to be okay once in a while), but if you find yourself using a colorful synonym for every dialogue tag in your manuscript or screenplay, you may be doing more harm than good.

3. Adjective/Adverb-a-rhea

Sometimes a well-placed and specific adverb or adjective strengthens or clarifies an image. However, many writers, in a misguided attempt to make their fiction writing descriptive, overuse these words. If you master the use of precise nouns and verbs (see tip number one), you'll almost certainly avoid the bad habit of propping up a weak verb or noun with a host of intrusive modifiers, as in the following example:

Carrying a steaming and fragrant mug, she walked angrily and loudly into his office.

Why write that, when you could have simply said:

Carrying her peppermint tea, she stormed into his office.

The second sentence actually gives us more information using fewer words.

Furthermore, when editing your manuscript, be especially wary of adjectives that don’t actually convey much...

interesting, lovely, exciting, beautiful

...and adverbs that introduce redundancy...

stereo blared loudly (blared implies high volume)

scrubbed vigorously (scrubbed implies intensity)

...or contradict the meaning of the verb or adjective they modify.

slightly pregnant (with pregnancy, you either are or you aren’t!)

very unique (something is either unique or not unique)

4. Inconsistent point of view

An author of fiction must choose the perspective, or point of view, from which a story will be told. In first-person narration, one character tells the story in his or her own voice (using "I"). Third-person narration can be either limited (an objective narrator tells the story by focusing on a particular character's thoughts and interactions) or omniscient (the narrator sees and hears all).

No single point of view is better than another, but once you have made a choice, be consistent. If your story is told in first-person, then remember that the narrator must be present in every scene he describes to the reader; otherwise, how would the character have the information?

Similarly, a limited third-person narrator who hears only Tom's thoughts tells the story for the first four chapters, the reader should not suddenly be privy to the mailman’s daydreams in chapter five.

Of course, there are some great examples of novels that experiment with point of view by switching between narrators. But even in these stories, some kind of predictable pattern is imposed for clarity, such as a change in narrator from one chapter to the next, but not within a chapter.

5. Unnaturally expositional, stilted, or irrelevant dialogue

Read your dialogue out loud. Does it sound like the way people actually talk (without all the ums and ahs and boring digressions, of course)? Do the characters rattle off factual information you are trying to jam into the story? Are they talking about the weather? Because if they're talking about the weather, you'd better have a good reason for it. Otherwise, the reader will feel bored, and a bored reader closes his or her book and turns on the TV.

All of this advice is important, but by far the worst habit a fiction writer can develop is the habit of giving up too easily. Keep writing every day. If you need help, remember that our manuscript editors are available 24/7 and that they can help you tackle all of your manuscript mishaps.

Culled from Scribendi

10 Easy Marketing Tips for Increased Brand Visibility

 

Marketing your business can seem like a daunting task, and sometimes we just need a little guidance to set things in motion.

Here are some tips that you can easily implement into your monthly routine to ensure that your brand is communicating properly with your target audience. Follow these steps and you will be on your way to engaging your audience and seeing progress in your success!

Be personal and authentic in your communication

With social media at the forefront of our marketing and communications platform, it is imperative that you communicate on a personal level. People are more inclined to participate with your brand if they know there is a real live person behind the brand identity who cares about them. Newsletters are more appreciated if they’re written from a personal perspective, addressing the individual with expert advice that can help the audience reach their goals.

Leverage your Network

Your friends, colleagues and social network are your biggest asset. Ask for referrals and testimonials from people you know or have done great work for. As is tradition, we are more likely to purchase a product if our friends have had a great experience with it. Create a “Friend Referral Program” or provide other incentives — like deals, discounts and rewards on your services — when people say good things about your company. Doing this consistently will greatly expand your network reach to a genuinely interested audience.

Google rankings

As we all know, getting to the top of Google can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. Have no fear: there are lots of ways to build your search engine optimization rankings without blowing your budget.

Our number one recommendation? Put your business on Google maps: this is a great way to get to the top of the list! Being consistently active on Twitter and Google Plus are fun, easy ways to increase your Google ranking, while adding shareable links to your Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest posts drives traffic to your website or blog.

Create your own TIPS

People like tips! A quick, fun list is a great way to provide useful information to your audience. If you want to kick it up a notch, create a video for them! Video is a great way to show the face behind the brand, creating an indelible personal connection.

Photos are king

People love to share inspirational, sarcastic and funny photos. Join the trend by putting together some current text and quotes that appeal to your crowd and the type of people you think would appreciate it. This is a great way to access your fans’ network without being “markety.” People will see who created the image and share it via the original source (you), creating brand visibility and adding a few likes along the way. Plus, you’ll probably make someone’s day!

Collaborate with the competition

Working with other like-minded business owners can help promote new ideas and products. Because your audience already exists on social media — and so does theirs — collaborating is a natural and friendly way to seek out social media users who are interested in learning more about the products or lifestyle you offer.

Create contest giveaways

People love to win things! Especially if those things are highly valuable, unusual or difficult to acquire. Make sure what you’re giving away is a conversation starter, something that people want to tell others about. Use Facebook ads to further promote your contest, as the ads employ a targeted tagging system to ensure you’re reaching the right people.

Knowledge is power

Know your audience and your competition. Follow the old corporate adage: don’t try to be something for everyone, aim to be everything to someone. Before you jump in the deep end, learn to understand whom it is you’re communicating to and what value your product or service can add to their lives.

To do: create online polls using Survey Monkey, pay attention to Google Analytics and Facebook Insights, and most importantly, listen carefully to responses. Offer an incentive for participating, like a free coffee or a gift card. Speaking of listening, keep your ears open to what the competition is doing. Be bold and willing to stand out and strategize over the long-term!

Partner with a charitable organization

Choose a cause you love and partner up with an organization whose mission is similar to yours. Get your staff and team out there helping out with a soup kitchen, throw an event and split the proceeds, or host an auction. You’re already a good Samaritan, so why not share your social consciousness with others? This alone helps your brand stand out and become a valued part of your community.

Capture information

Almost every message you put out there should come with a call to action. Add a newsletter sign-up form to your website, make a database of loyal clientele, and reach out to them on a regular basis. Offering incentives — “Sign up to our newsletter and receive 10 tips to...” or “Share this contest for more chances to WIN..” — is the strongest way to get your audience to participate, and it lets you find out what works for different segments of your market niche. Show them that you are grateful: a simple reward goes a long way.

Marketing is the key element to a successful business. TRW Consult, a brand and marketing agency, works on marketing campaigns regularly and can help your business make the best decisions. So contact them now!

 

 

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