Successful Blog

10 Easy Tips to Develop Your Own Writing Style

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By Leslie Anglesey

Your writing style is something that is uniquely your own. While you can admire another writer’s voice, it would be a mistake to try to mimic it. You will only end up creating a pale imitation of the work you are trying to master. Stand up, take a deep (virtual) breath and be yourself. Follow these 10 tips to develop your own writing style.

develop your own writing style - inspiration
  1. Read other writers’ work.
    If you want to get a feel for how words fit together, read how other writers use them. Read for enjoyment and with an editor’s eye. Ask yourself why the author would choose to use them.
  2. Start by writing short paragraphs.
    If the idea of crafting a lengthy work makes you feel intimidated, start with something smaller. Try writing a single paragraph describing something that made you laugh or your favorite movie.
  3. Focus on getting your idea down first.
    For a first draft, all you need to be concerned with is getting your basic idea down. You can always edit and revise it later on.
  4. Experiment with some different styles.
    Keep in mind that writing is a solitary activity. You can work at it and choose not to share the content of your latest project with anyone unless you want to. If you are curious about a new genre, find a class or experiment with it on your own.
  5. Make friends with a dictionary.
    Part of developing your own writing style is to make sure that you are using words in the right context. If you are reading something and you aren’t sure of its meaning, take the time to look it up in a dictionary.
  6. Use a thesaurus to add new words to your vocabulary.
    Do you have certain words that you find you are always relying on when you write? If you and your friends tend to use the same phrases, it will be difficult for you to stand out from the crowd. The next time you find yourself using a stock phrase to describe something, stop and look it up in a thesaurus. See if there might be an alternative that will describe it more accurately. If not, you don’t have to use the suggestions, but you will have learned some new words to consider for next time.
  7. Read your work out loud.
    Does your writing sound like the way you talk? If it doesn’t sound like it was written in your spoken voice, you may want to work on it until it does. Keep polishing it until you feel that it reflects your inflection and tone.
  8. Turn off your inner critic.
    As you write, there will always be a part of your brain that will tell you that your work is unfinished or can be improved. You may even feel that other people can or have done it better, so why should you even try to get something down. This inner critic can be very harsh, and will likely judge your work even more severely than a real editor would. To the extent you can, try to shut it down and just focus on letting your work speak for itself.
  9. Take some risks in your writing.
    Once you turn off your inner critic, make a decision to step outside of your comfort zone in your writing. Nothing you write has to be forever. You can choose to delete it and start over if you want to. Think of the blank page like a playground, not something that is scary and intimidating. You can’t hurt yourself, so you really aren’t taking a risk at all. You are always in control of your writing.
  10. Write every day.
    If you think about writing as if it were a muscle, you will appreciate that you need to keep it limber. Work it often and it will reward you by being easier to work with. If you don’t use it, you’ll find that it is stiff and hard to get into the groove. Ideas won’t flow as freely as if you make a habit of writing every day.

Set aside some time to be creative regularly. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a novel, working on essays, blogging, or writing in a personal journal. Take time to explore the world of words regularly to develop your own writing style – and don’t forget to enjoy it.

Author’s Bio: Leslie Anglesey is an editor at Essay Tigers, a website about essay writing tips. She also works as a professor in the University of Southern California and loves teaching others how to improve their writing style.

Image via Flickr CC: Alan Cleaver

Five steps to fully optimising your website against hacker attacks

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By Brittany Thorley

Cyber attacks have been a growing trend and an ever-growing challenge for organisations of all sizes with the financial loss as a result of cyber attacks and the cost of resolving such threats costing billions worldwide. Whilst the global price tag of cyber attacks is staggering and hackers by no means defeated, organisations across the globe are taking steps to optimise their websites to avoid hacking disasters.

Prevent hackers from using your server as a transmitter of spam and illegal files using these five steps to a website that is safe, secure and ultimately uncompromised.

1. Update regularly to close hacker loopholes

Updating software and backing up files should be the mantra of every online business and this regime is an important step to protecting your site from hackers. Updating all software on your server and any web applications on a regular basis is essential and will close loopholes that leave your site vulnerable to attacks. Exercise particular diligence when using any third party software (e.g., CMS) by regularly running security updates. CMS software (such as WordPress) informs you of any available updates when logging in.

2. Use parameterised queries

Preventing SQL Injection vulnerabilities is a developer’s nightmare when it comes to web application security, and many have quite the battle on their hands to ensure the code they write is secure and a number of other factors are controlled to inhibit compromise. Despite developers’ best efforts, SQL Injection, whereby the hacker uses a URL parameter or web form field to access and manipulate databases, is all too common but you can do your bit in protecting your website from unauthorised changes, data collection and deletion.

Parameterised queries can be used in collaboration with many web languages and will prevent the hacker from changing URL parameters to add their additional query to the SQL statement.

3. Censor error messages

Unbeknownst to many, error messages can give away essential information that leaves your system compromised. One area in particular where hackers can use error messages to attack and gain access to your website is the admin login form. For example, they use vague error messages such as ‘Your username or password was incorrect,’ implying that one of the two fields is correct. This will give the hacker the information they need to launch an attack on the incorrect field and gain access to your system even quicker.

4. Use strong passwords server and browser side

The importance of strong passwords may be an obvious one, but many organisations still fail to make their password as complex as they should, especially when protecting their server and admin area. Follow the principles and create a password that will outwit the most persistent hackers and defend your website appropriately.

  • Ensure your password is at least eight characters in length
  • Regularly update your password and ensure it is dramatically different every time
  • Do not include your username, company name or real name
  • Use a mixture of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols
  • Avoid using complete words or phrases

The use of memorable information in a password can make it easy to remember, but apply the principles above and the following example to form a stronger alternative. If you’d like to use your husband’s birthday as the basis of your password, use the values in the following example: ‘My husband’s birthday is 25 November 1987’, opt for this password – ‘Mhbi25/Nov,87’.

5. Assess your website security with penetration testing

Penetration testing (or pentest) uses similar scripts as hackers to simulate a hacker attack and highlight and exploit vulnerabilities within your IT infrastructure. These weaknesses can be found and remedied before hackers have the chance to abuse them in a bid to compromise your website. Internal, external and hybrid penetration testing can provide organisations across all industries with a level of certainty and reassurance when protecting their website from hackers.

Have you taken steps to secure your website?

Author’s Bio: Brittany Thorley is a business and security blogger, she works with a range of organisations to enhance their security online with advice on penetration testing, security audits, source code review and training.

Book Review: “The Age of Context,” by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

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The image of Robert Scoble in the shower with his Google Glasses on is seared in our collective brains by now. But we should all stop laughing because it’s about to get serious, folks.

According to Scoble and his co-author Israel, there are five key trends that are converging to create the “age of context:”

  • Mobile
  • Social Media
  • Data
  • Location-Based Technology
  • Sensors

The Age of Context

This book is a funhouse tour through technologies, apps, and jaw-dropping devices that are on our horizons, whether we’re ready for them or not.

Many of the forthcoming developments raise issues of privacy, security, or safety, and the authors take the time to address those issues. It may be years before we come to grips with the new world where you can trade in your personal information in exchange for a more convenient and catered-to experience, but Scoble and Israel are laying the groundwork.

The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Google Glasses

After cruising through this book, you will consider whether it might be nice to walk out of a store without visiting an actual cash register, or get driven to work in a driverless car, or get rescued by a firefighter wearing augmented reality glasses.

Scoble and Israel aren’t the only ones starting to bring up the big questions brought on by our new connected, contextual world. The Federal Trade Commission is holding a workshop on November 19 to discuss the privacy and security concerns surrounding the Internet of Things.

But the central premise of the book is hopeful. As much as the new technology forces us to deal with new challenges, it promises to potentially save lives, make us more productive, and revitalize our cities.

You can choose to be frightened or energized, but one way or another you’ll need to react to the changes highlighted in this exhilarating book.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

5 Keys to Properly Selling Your Small Business

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If you’ve started a small business from the ground up, then you know just how much hard work goes into making a business successful.

So, when it comes time to sell your baby, it’s important that your exit strategy is the right one in order for all that hard work to pay off.

With sale success in mind, here are 5 key strategies to properly selling your small business:

1. Patience is a Business Virtue

No matter how much planning goes into the sale of your small business, if you don’t wait until the most opportune time to sell, then you’ll likely end up disappointed. This is true for you, the seller, as well as the potential buyer.

In other words, it’s wise to wait until the timing is right and your small business is financially stable before selling. A business that’s successful on paper will result in a higher selling price. That said it’s also important to wait for a buyer who’s not only financially capable of taking over your business, but also business savvy.

2. Picking the Right Buyer

Most small business owners don’t just sell their livelihoods only to walk away and never think about the sale again. In fact, owners have a vested interest in their businesses long after the sale either in the form of shares, partial ownership, or on an emotional level.

Because of this, it’s imperative that you choose the right buyer to take over your small business. This means a financially stable buyer with experience in running a small business. On top of that, look for a buyer with the same passion you have for your small business.

3. Broker vs. Sell by Owner

Selling your small business yourself may sound like a good idea, especially considering the fees and commission involved with hiring a broker. But, if you don’t know what you’re doing in the sale department, then the money saved selling on your own may be more trouble than it’s worth.

So, take into consideration the paperwork involved with purchase agreements, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, bills of sale, leases, and security agreements. If that’s something you can handle realistically, then a broker may not be necessary.

4. Finding the Right Selling Price

When it comes down to the bottom dollar, a lack in research could result in your small business’s selling price coming in too high or too low. A high price is bad because it scares away potential buyers whereas a low price makes you, the seller, look like you’re trying to get out of a business gone wrong.

So, it’s wise to consider everything from the competition to the economy to the industry your business is based in before setting the sale price. This, combined with independent research on brand specifics, will result in the right asking price.

5. The Why Behind the Sale

Beyond all the pre-sale preparation and planning, everything about selling your small business will boil down to one word and one word only: why? The buyer’s definitely going to want to know, so be prepared.

Ask yourself why you’re selling your bread and butter – if it’s because you’re moving on to new horizons or retiring, then that’s perfectly fine. But, if you’re selling because the business is failing, then that’s something the buyer needs to know. In other words, be honest with yourself and the potential buyer.

By keeping these key strategies in mind, you’ll have a hassle-free time selling your beloved small business.

Photo credit: sellabusinessflorida.com

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including personal health, the best accounting software, and small business.

Why working for charity is not your average day job

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By Sophie Ponting

It’s not every job that offers you the satisfaction of knowing that the hard work you put in every day is making a real difference to those less fortunate than yourself, but that’s the feeling that comes with working for a charity. Whether it’s as a fundraiser, administrator, or even marketing for a charity, the opportunities for work in your particular area of expertise whilst sticking to your moral values are endless.

According to the UK Charity Commission there are 180,000 registered charities in England and Wales alone, and while many of the workers at these charities carry out their duties as volunteers, there are also quite a number of reasonably well paid charity jobs on offer at many of the larger organisations.

Here we’ll take a quick look at some of the pros of working for a charity

  • Improve the quality of life of those that need it most
  • Contribute something worthwhile to the community
  • Tremendous job satisfaction in seeing the results of your work
  • Work in a not for profit organisation setting you apart from more money oriented workplaces
  • Gain valuable experience as a graduate – pro bono internships are regularly on offer at many charities

Job diversity is also a key factor for many that choose to pursue charity jobs and here are a couple of the areas within your everyday charity with many job opportunities.

Fundraising

The role of fundraiser is one of the most important roles within any charity. They are quite often seen as the public face of the charity and their duties are quite extensive and can cover anything from organising traditional street collections to liaising with major businesses to encourage corporate donations.

Marketing

Marketing is where many businesses fail and charities are no different. Raising public awareness of a charity is key to its survival and a good marketing department is essential. With marketing being such a large component of a successful charity there are many roles available such as campaign managers, press officers, and brand managers, to name but a few.

If a change in career is something you are considering, then taking a step into the world of charity work could be the most rewarding career choice you will ever make. With vacancies that are numerous and varied, and a level of job satisfaction that is second to none, it’s easy to see why working for a charity is not like your average day job.

Author’s Bio: Sophie Ponting is a keen volunteer for a well known UK charity as a hobby and is interested in helping out others and fundraising events. Her original interest in this came due to her association with TPP Not For Profit – UK Charity Recruiters, where she is based in London.

Pinterest Feature Hot TIp: Promoted Pins

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By James White

Pinterest explores the world of monetization with all new promoted pins.

Next time you log into Pinterest, you will notice promoted pins in your pin stream that are identical to those already in your stream. A “promoted pin” notation on the lower portion of the pin is the only differentiation and many people will have missed the small phrase unless they are analyzing the pin thoroughly.

So what is the point?

Promoted Pins will offer a much different dynamic to Pinterest since it will be the first allowed monetization within the company. Since its release, Pinterest never worried about monetizing and only worried about the content. While they are not investing in the monetization of their now-successful company, they do not want it to become so transparent. Instead, they want discretion yet visibility.

Contradicting, isn’t it?

Pinterest is in the beginning stages of their promoted pins, but overall the following can be said about them:

  • Not Flashy. Promoted pins do not offer a flashy or distasteful appeal to them. They are discrete since they blend in with your newsfeed as a regular pin post.
  • Semi-transparent. While it is not flashy, the promoted pins offer some transparency. Pinterest wants their users to know where there pins are coming from and whether or not they were paid or unpaid.
  • Relevant to Current Content. One of the most successful ideas built into the promoted pins feature is relevance it has to the content on your news feed. When streaming, ads will be tailored to fit your specific needs and interests, making it more user-friendly.

All of the above seems to be in the interest of its users.

Pinterest Finally Becoming a Sustainable Business

Promoted Pins seem to be one of many new ideas that Pinterest has in store for its users. Pinterest seems to be developing a solid business model and intends to fully monetize its newfound popularity. Whether or not promoted pins lead to success, its discretion may appeal to potential investors.

Many users on social networks have become adept at ignoring ads unless they directly relate to them. Even so, people are prone to placing “ad blockers” on their computer, which will not hinder Pinterest in the slightest. Since their advertisement is built into their system and not through a third-party app, Pinterest Promoted Pins will continue to stay in line with your newsfeed.

Nondisclosure of Advertisers, but Open to Suggestions

Pinterest prides itself on being a community, so they have shadowed who their current advertisers are for their “promoted pins” ads. Not to mention, only certain community members will have access to the promoted pins ads while others have been closed out. How the selection was made is unknown, but they have used an algorithm to select which users will and will not see promoted pins during its trial period.

However, not all is lost to those who are enduring the “promoted pins” session. Users who see the promoted pins are asked to input their own suggestions on the system and submit ideas for other promotions. While it might seem tedious, it looks as though Pinterest might finally be giving itself a well-needed adjustment to become “one of the big dogs” in social media.

Author’s Bio: James works for Inbound Marketing, Inc. and is the founder of InfoBros. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, cooking, and blogging about health, tech and communication. Connect with him on Twitter at @JGtheSavage.