While a school essay is not the same as writing for a business or website, I wanted to recommend this great blog post I just read about writing school essays. 
The post is aimed at parents trying to help students learn about writing a good essay – and it gives good tips (like SEXI paragraphs!)
Many of the concepts can also be carried into other forms of non-fiction writing. For instance, planning what you will put in a promotional article, blog post, report, flyer or similar still saves a lot of time and worry.
Have a read of their post and let me know what you think…
SEXI paragraphs contain:
Statement
Explanation
eXample
Importance
Which term do you use and prefer?
Traditionally, people would send an announcement to the newspapers to share news so it became known as a press release.
With the introduction of radio and TV, press releases had more uses than just newspapers; now, if you have news to share you may send it to any combination of newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, websites and newsletters.
The term media release covers all forms of media so seems more appropriate in most circumstances now than a press release. I certainly consider that I write media releases, but I am comfortable talking to people who still use ‘press release’.
I wonder if age or work background impact much on which name people use – what do you think?
Just a quick reminder to keep things up to date – or avoid anything that makes the date obvious. 
Today I heard a radio ad offering 10% off everything until the end of March. Two days ago, that would have been an effective call to action; today (being the 1st April) means I have 12 months to take up the offer.
My assumption is that the business didn’t mean the ad to be run today and don’t really want to run their sale for 12 months! Whether it was error or belatedly providing the required airtime by the radio station, it is a good reminder to check dates carefully!
Have you come across any funny faulty dates?
As a business owner or manager, there are always many tasks to do, and often not enough time for them!
Yet many people hesitate in getting outside, professional help for things like writing, design, website updates and bookkeeping; for some, they don’t think they can afford help, others like to maintain complete control, some think it will take longer to find someone than to just do it themselves and another group just wouldn’t know where to start looking for help.
Whatever your reason for putting off getting help, here are my reasons to look and ask for help…
I know it can take time to find the right professionals to work with. I know it may seem out of budget (but factor in time savings and better results and you may be surprised at the affordability). And I know building trust in others to care as much as you can be hard. Yet I believe it is often worth talking to a professional to find out how they could help.
Do you have any stories about an outside professional helping your business?
On Sunday I wrote about the value of promotional articles, but I thing there is another important question – have they be over used? are they just a waste of time?
My answer – no!
There are certainly a lot of promotional articles available, and many are not worth the time to read (or write!), but for a well prepared article there is definitely a return on the investment of preparing promotional articles.
A couple of reasons promotional articles are still worth considering to promote a business:
In short, the internet has put us into an information age and there is power to those who provide quality information. Promotional articles are an excellent way to share information so we have not seen the end of their value.
If you’re still doubtful, think about the last time you searched for information online – what were the most useful sources?
Are you aware that among and between have quite distinct meanings and can’t be used in the same way?
among: surrounded by, part of, included with
Divided among a team of ten, five oranges didn’t go far.
between: fitting in, across or along a spectrum or group
They will provide between $2 and $5 per person for catering.
So you need to use between for two items, and among for more than two items.
Business success is not guaranteed and there is no magic button to push that will get your business moving the way you want it to. Repetition of information and tasks is necessary, regardless of how boring it may seem. I have often heard that if you aren’t doing something then you don’t actually know and understand it – for example, if you drive fast you really don’t understand speed limits and why they exist.
If you have read a lot of my blog and heard me speak then you know I believe in the power of promotional articles. Well, the potential power as many have no idea how to use them properly and therefore fail with them.
What’s so good about promotional articles? In other words, why I do keep writing and talking about them, and giving tips on improving them?
Well here are some of the reasons:
So do you see any value in using promotional articles for your business?
Do you use email marketing for your business? Let’s face it, it can be highly effective and relatively cheap so is always worth considering.
No matter how great your email is, though, you need to support it on your website – and this is something many people forget so here are some tips for you:
If you looked at your latest email campaign and the related web pages, would you see the connection or would they clash? Try the above tips as a testing process and see if you can’t improve the campaign for next time.
Do you get bored with hearing the same stuff a number of times? What do you do about repeated information?
As I wrote a few days ago, some repetition of stuff is necessary to succeed – either because it takes a few goes to really understand it or the timing wasn’t right initially or even just as a reminder that it is still important.
I agree with Jack that looking professional is important – and that includes care with grammar, spelling, effective links and care of details. So I write about those topics quite often, which may seem boring to some I know, but I do try to cover a range of topics within clear and professional communications.
Given the amount of poor writing I come across every day, I see there is a need for a repetition of grammar and spelling tips, too!
If you are good at grammar and spelling – my apoliges for repeating what you already know! But why not take this opportunity to tell me what other topics you would like me to write about?
Would you like to find a ‘magic bullet’ that will suddenly make your business a success and bring in all the income you hope and plan for? Sounds wonderful doesn’t it but I don’t think it really exists – although you may find various ways to make improvements (especially if you are new to business).
I came across a list of 5 essentials to a healthy business which basically reminds us that we have to repeat the basics, not matter how boring, to make our business succeed.
Have a read and let me know if you agree with Jack’s list .
Use your words wisely!
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