Photo by kristenamorse. You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne. 12 most predictable things that will happen in your first 3 months of blogging. You've convinced your team or higher-ups that blogging is a good idea for your company. All you have to do now is turn your company's expertise into captivating online content. Before you start, be aware of the most common pitfalls you will face in your first three months of blogging, and plan for how to survive them: 1. Copycat confusion You try to model your blog after others in the industry, but you don't get the same results. What you're missing is the solid foundation underneath any successful business blog. Survival tactic: Study other blogs for what you like and don't like. 2. You got permission to start the initiative, but now you're met with skepticism and resistance.
[RELATED: Learn why you need a content marketing plan at our content marketing boot camp.] Survival tactic: In your blogging strategy, show how blogging will take your company's existing marketing plan and put it online. 3. 4. 5. 6. You check the blog several times a day and despair because there are no comments. 7. 11 Smart Tips for Brilliant Writing. 5 Tips for Writing a Great Press Release. Press releases are a tricky thing to get right. One simple mistake -- like a poor headline or a mere typo -- can make you lose readers, and September 01, 2010 Press releases are a tricky thing to get right.
One simple mistake -- like a poor headline or a mere typo -- can make you lose readers, and once they're gone, they're not coming back. Good press releases, however, can catch the attention of reporters, resulting in news stories and more. Here are five tips on how to make sure your press release gets noticed (in a good way): Don’t Bury the Lead A press release, much like your traditional newspaper story, should highlight all of the most important news right off the bat. Make Sure Your Headline is Strong The headline should read like an even shorter, more summed-up version of the first few sentences. Don’t Leave Room for Confusion A press release is supposed to be the gateway to a story, not the story itself, and good reporters generally won’t regurgitate press releases as news.
Journalism Basics: Five Ws and One H. If you ever sat through Journalism 101, you know all about the Five Ws and one H. For the rest of you, you may find this concept helpful when preparing interview questions or writing factual news stories. This concept may help you write better news releases too, considering they should contain news. What are the Five Ws and One H? They are Who, What, Why, When, Where and How. Why are the Five Ws and One H important? Journalism purists will argue your story isn’t complete until you answer all six questions. In case it’s not obvious what information you would be looking to gather from each of the six questions, let’s look at what information you might want to gather with the Five Ws and One H if you were reporting on The Three Little Pigs: Who was involved?
It’s a silly example, but you can see how getting answers to these six questions can really help you get all the information needed to write an accurate report. Did you read all the way to the end of this post? 50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills - Smashing Magazine. Advertisement Today, too many websites are still inaccessible. In our new book Inclusive Design Patterns, we explore how to craft flexible front-end design patterns and make future-proof and accessible interfaces without extra effort. Hardcover, 312 pages. Get the book now! Effective writing skills are to a writer what petrol is to a car. Of course, effective writing requires a good command of the language in which you write or want to write. Further Reading on SmashingMag: Link We collected over 50 useful and practical tools and resources that will help you to improve your writing skills. 1.
Use English Punctuation Correctly6 A quick and useful crash course in English punctuation. HyperGrammar7 An extensive electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa’s Writing Centre. Grammar Girl8 Mignon Fogarty’s quick and dirty tips for better writing. English Style Guide – Economist16 This guide is based on the style book which is given to all journalists at The Economist. 2. Dr. 3. 4. 5. 6. How Can I Improve my Editing Skills? The Write Stuff: Solid writing skills are a job requirement | br. Text messaging, IM'ing and blogging are now the popular kids in the grammar world, leaving the little old English language stuck home alone waiting for a phone call.
Grammar, punctuation and spelling have been disregarded in favor of speed and convenience. It's understandable if you're just firing off a quick note or text to a friend, but when it comes to writing in the workplace, extra effort is required. From resumes and reports to emails and memos, writing skills are something you'll use whether trying to land a job or function in one. Writing has always been an essential part of work, but now its relevance is even more apparent as email is a primary means of work communication.
It's important that all your work-related writing is clear, concise and slang-free. Resume rules As a potential hire, you're more than a simple resume. It's a good idea to edit your resume down to one page while still allowing for enough white space to make it easy-to-read. Working stiff Cover your bases Sources: 8 Must-Dos For Aspiring Writers | Brand Elevation Through Social. The Age of Innovation - Innovation blog art. By Alan M Webber When this period we're in right now passes and whatever comes next arrives, we'll look back fondly on this current time and call it, quite rightly The Age of Innovation. Beset as we are by serious and pressing problems, we run the risk of failing to appreciate one of the most incredible periods of creative output in world history. Take a look around you and make your own list of the remarkable stream of innovation that is going on all around us.
It's been almost a decade since "innovation" became a business buzz word. Instead, innovation has become a sustained business element. Why? Here's a partial list - feel free to add to it or make your own! Global competition. What are the shapes, forms, and practices that tell you we're living through the Age of Innovation? What are you doing to be part of it? One thing's sure: You don't want to miss it - you don't want to fail to appreciate it or fail to participate. 73 Ways to Become a Better Writer. 10 New Ideas for Getting Inspired to Write.