In life some things are better in pairs like shoes, earrings, and gloves. Also “lifeguard on duty” red and yellow flags.
In Australia, the area between two of these flags is the safe area for swimming as it is patrolled by lifeguards. One flag alone does not show the safe “swim between the flags” area that the lifeguard sets each day at the beach.
Is there something in your life that needs a pair?
As the cost of a college education continues to soar students and parents are under increasing pressure to find funding. Scholarships are one the best ways to avoid student loans and excessive debt. There are several traditional types of scholarships, including merit, athletic, religious and ethnicity based. With the rise of the âblogâ in the last 15 years, the time has come for a blogging scholarship.
Your Local Security is offering $1,000 for the best blog post answering the following prompt: “As the nation approaches its 57th Presidential Election, we’re asking the future leaders of this country, students, to define the single most important political issue in this election. Tell us not only what that issue is, but also tell us why and how you propose we come to a solution that benefits the majority?â Full details can be found at http://yourlocalsecurity.com/scholarship
Additional consideration will be given to how well the post is promoted through “tweets”, Facebook “Likes”, “Stumbles”, and Google “+1’s”. The winning blog post will have both compelling ideas and social support, neither one can independently guarantee a win. This scholarship represents a great opportunity to earn cash for college by flexing your blogging skills.
—-
Author’s Bio: Brandon Mercury (@BrandonMercury) is a regular contributor at In Good Measure .
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
Inverted Pyramid is a term well known in the field of journalism, and it refers to a particular structure of laying out a story. While following the Inverted Pyramid structure, you need to start from the most important part of the story/news. The idea is to give the crux of the story in the headline, or the first two three lines.
You might not have noticed this approach because you are used to this style. However, imagine if journalists weren’t employing this approach, and taking the route of story tellers, they will have to start from the scratch and the culmination will come in the end. And even though, reading the newspaper (or watching a news channel) might not have been such a gloomy experience if this approach wasn’t at play, but it is this approach that provides the journalist or reporters what they are looking for, and that’s … reader’s attention.
The approach is commonly used by journalists, but not all types of writers. For example the novelists can’t start from the conclusion and then follow it with the rest of the story, but they’re lucky in the sense that their targeted audience is ready to devote some time in reading the novel. But in case of journalists, they don’t get the audience with such leisure time (nobody would prefer going through the doom and gloom news in their leisure time). However, web writers can learn a thing or two from the approach.
If you notice, web surfers are actually more in rush, as compared to someone with newspaper in his/her hands. In their bid to scan through hundreds of Google results or web pages in a matter of minutes, they usually just glance through the titles or headlines. And if it fails to grab their attention, they are gone. Thus, one of the most important skills a web writer can learn is to form a headline that will be a magnet for clicks. Now, I’ve worked with a number of writers and some of them are naturally gifted in this regard, and they can come up with more interesting and catchy titles as compared to their counterparts, who might be equally good at writing, still not able to churn out good titles. But if you lack in creativity, you can simply use the “inverted pyramid” approach to overcome this weakness.
It’s quite straight forward, all you need to do is to think of the most important part of the story, article, blog post, or marketing copy. Itâs the part that you think can catch the attention of your targeted audience, and then use that particular information in the title. Note that it is not some revolutionary idea. In fact you see this approach being used a lot while surfing through the web. Remember all those headlines promising overnight riches or miraculous results, that’s inverted pyramid for you and you can use it as well in your writing, from now on.
Bonus Tip:
At times, writers get obsessed with SEO and goes to the extent of spoiling the titles in a bid to add certain keywords in the titles, especially the dry ones like Norton 360 Discount or System Mechanic Coupon. Whilst having keywords or key phrases in the title can surely boost your chances for getting ranked for those keywords, you should make sure that the inclusion of the keywords is not done the cost of ruining the main purpose of the title i.e. attracting the readers.
Rahil Muzafar
—-
Author’s Bio:
Rahil is an Internet Marketing expert. He works for various coupon codes and discount websites, for example www.verybestsoftware.net that shares different types of deals and discounts for software like Norton 360, System Mechanic, or Acronis.
Thanks! Rahil!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
This work reminds me every time I see it of what delight can be provided by a combination of creative imagination and skill with materials. When you look at the pieces in this composition up close, they are basically a set of bent and twisted square metal rods with a small flat metal piece bolted on at the tip of each. When you stand back and allow your imagination to take over, they are birds. Magic!
What magic are you creating, or seeing, today?.
Last year, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with distinction and a 3.8 GPA. As a marketing major, I was always told that there were âtons of jobs out there for meâ and that employers were âlooking for my set of skillsâ so I wasnât very concerned about the job hunt ahead of me.
I started looking for a job during my final semester, and when no offers for interviews came I figured it was because I wasnât available yet and I would have to graduate first.
After graduation, I moved to a larger city and started to focus solely on my job hunt. I would apply for 10 to 15 jobs each day, but many came back with a rejection email because I didnât quite fit the skill set needed. Most of my applications went without a response at all. I started to feel discouraged after a few weeks thinking that I wouldnât be able to find employment. After all, the unemployment rate is rising, and I had much less experience than others in my field.
After a while, I finally got my first interview request. I was completely myself and felt comfortable during the first round, which resulted in a request for a second interview. However, I got nervous during that second interview and got a rejection email the next day.
In my second job interview, I decided not to let anything keep me from being myself. I got through both rounds of interviews with flying colors and was offered the job. However, the hours were long, the pay was low, and I would be knocking on doors selling a product. While those qualities may have been alright for someone else, I wanted something a little different. After careful consideration, I turned down that job.
On my way to my third interview, I was already planning on where I would drop off more resumes on my way home. I knew very little about the company and it was impossible to find their website online. But I knew as soon as I walked in the door that this was the place for me. This place had flexible hours, good pay, great atmosphere, and wonderful people to work with.The interview lasted five minutes and I knew I would accept any job they offered me. Turns out, third time is the charm.
After my three month long job search, I feel that I have grown a little wiser. The job hunt is frustrating for anyone, whether they are just coming out of college or in the middle of their career. Along the way, these are the points I have found that may help you find your perfect job.
Donât forget to visit the actual websites of companies where you think you would like to work. Some of them may not be using a website like Career Builder or Monster.com, and some smaller companies may be using Craigslist because it is less expensive. Also, look in places you may not have thought of at first. Hand in resumes to businesses around your home. Actually giving them the resume in person will probably make you more memorable to the person hiring for the company.
What tricks do you have for finding a job after college?
—-
Author’s Bio:
Amy Gardner writes financial topics including small business credit cards. Amy welcomes your comments.
Thanks, Rachel. Even the seasoned pros at home need reminders like these!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
There comes a time for every small business to, with some great webhosting, build a brand online and focus their efforts on gaining a stronger consumer basis throughout the Internet. Many entrepreneurs prefer using traditional offline brand building to gain consumer spending, but find it difficult to connect with younger generations without the aid of technology. The target demographic will usually encourage a business to focus their efforts with either online or traditional brand marketing. However, a business entity will always focus these pursuits with the primary goal of greatly improving its revenue.
Within an industry, there are few cases where a company does not have to compete with an overwhelming number of national competitors. Even in small communities, consumers have the ability to order products directly through the Internet to obtain goods that could have been bought in local stores. When a business is forced to realize its anonymity within its market, it is up to the business owners to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack to secure a particular niche with consumers.
Larger businesses with well known brands can charge more for the same product while offering fewer overall goods to their customers. This is due primarily to the marketing of their brand to be synonymous in the minds of their consumers with the product or service they sell. For instance, when you add up the price of the physical components in a large company, it will still be significantly less than the amount it would sell for due to its brand name being sold with it. This virtual commodity often has a higher price than any other individual aspect of an entire firm.
Products that are intended to be used by the younger generation or consumers who use Internet access for their work will need their brand to be marketed throughout the Internet. When a company chooses to build a brand online, they have the advantage of generating a large consumer base that will only increase through time. Unlike traditional offline brand building, Internet use is becoming a universal tool that is taught to most children throughout the nation and not much is needed to get online.
Cheap web hosting is often sufficient. Once you got this youâre ready to get started with setting your online presence up. And remember that older generations will decrease over time and the traditional brands are expected to go with them if they do not revitalize their images. This can be seen by many established names trying to build a brand online to prevent the inevitable switch from damaging their profits.
Companies that offer products oriented to consumers who more frequently use television and printed materials for their information can gain more through traditional offline brand building. This marketing is quite popular currently due to the aging baby boomer population that is less integrated in social networks. Since the level of computer illiteracy is on average higher for older generations, it can actually be a wasted effort using online marketing for products that would be bought directly by the consumer.
Since some products can be bought by multiple consumer groups, these items will often require both traditional and online brand marketing. This is true for products and services that are non-age oriented and for age-oriented products that can be given as gifts. It is important to focus each marketing task on the specific consumers who would be reached through media and online sources. For instance, when older generations look for a particular luxury service, they want to see a diligent staff that is both polite and friendly. For this same luxury service, younger generations will be more interested in the accommodations and the comparative price. Creating a brand that fills both of these needs can be done when each demographic is reached with the portrayal they desire.
Online brand marketing will often be through social networks and other informational sites that directly market to the consumer. The most effective form of designing a brand online has been to involve the consumer into the companyâs daily operations. This often requires forum moderation after the marketing is over and special content that is designed to make these consumers feel included. Social chats with head officials to reassure consumer groups have proven to be effective. Corporate paraphernalia, including T-shirts, hats, and other trinkets can be displayed on site shops for dedicated consumer groups to show their brand loyalty.
Traditional brand creation will focus on telling consumers why your company is unique. This has the disadvantage of being a one-way conversation and relies on the trust consumers will place in your promises. Orienting the appearance of your company to the desired viewpoint of your consumers will lead to a higher reception. Since the general consumer will need only a positive psychological improvement to buy your products, traditional brands will often give the illusion of superior quality. For instance, focusing on a particular detail that is different from other competitors in a positive light can build a brand with targeted audiences. This does not even require the detail to be important or affect the performance of your product. It is simply something that makes your brand unique.
No matter the path you take with the marketing of your brand, it is important to remember that the revenue for your products and services will increase dramatically with a successful campaign (and donât forget that a lot visitors/customers require strong hosting solutions, such as for example dedicated server hosting â otherwise your successful campaigns will be in vain). Before you branded your company, the costs were only in the material and labor that was incorporated into the product. Afterwards, you can take into account the worth of your brand and increase the prices to meet this improvement in the psychological satisfaction gained by your consumers.
—-
Author’s Bio: The article is from Jason Nash from webhostingsearch.com Jason writes
about technology, social media and online marketing strategies and
follows brands online and off as part of his work.
Thank you, Jason!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!