December 9th, 2011  Posted at   Business

If you really want to improve your business, the best way to do it is to write a Business Plan. It is not the plan itself that is so important, although it is a valuable asset but the process as it makes you really think about the business and focus on the way that you will operate and grow the business in the future.

There are seven key topic areas in a good business plan as follows:

1. The Executive summary

Although this is at the beginning of the plan, you will write it last as it is an overview of the entire plan. Most banks will read it first or use it when considering future funding so ensure that you have the most important points of the plan written well. Include rationale for needed financing and how this will be used, the growth you will expect as well as the products and services that you provide and staffing required. Remember, you are writing this for someone who may not be familiar with the details of your business so be clear and and comprehensive but also keep it brief so the reader is not bored.

2. Mission statement

This is an enthusiastic statement or two that condense your motivation for doing the business and how others including clients, employees, staff and investors benefit.

3. Company description and history

This is a section where you will talk about when the business started and how it has progressed since then. Include past, present and future products and services that have been sold, and why you have a competitive advantage over similar businesses. Also include the type of business you have under the law (incorporation, sole proprietorship etc.) the physical location and number of staff you employ.

4. Market analysis

In this section you will be talking about your “ideal client” and how far your business reach has extended to this point. You will also outline the potential market you will reach with expansion and the trends that might affect greater demand for your goods and services. Describe the delivery methods you will use (in person, through physical products, internet etc.) as well as the reasons why people will make purchasing decisions (price, quality, trust etc.). Finally, describe the competition and how they attract the same buyers that you want.

5. Marketing plan

This section describes how you will advertise or promote your business in order to increase revenue. Include a budget to cover the costs of preparing materials and having them delivered as well as the pricing strategy that you have developed for the market. Read more… »

December 7th, 2011  Posted at   Technical Writing

Persuasive content on your website is the essential key to driving and attracting potential searchers to your site. People expect unique, timely, and relevant information. The fast loading content with clarity, is easy for the search engines to index. Mere keeping the content out of grammatical error, spelling mistakes is not sufficient. There are so many things that play important role in making the content unique, pertinent, and up-to-date.

What makes the searchers visit a site again and again is the quality contents. The sites that are consistently top ranked in the search engines, is the result of quality content. There are number of ways with which you can write attractive content to make your site acceptable to the search engines. Brood over the points that follow to unlock your creativity of writing great web content.

1. Don’t make your content dull and uninteresting by feeding it dry information and tedious facts. Always make your content lively and entertaining whenever possible in order to make yourself likeable. Imagine yourself as clients, and try to write your content as if you were trying to convince yourself to buy, sign up, or request your own service.

2. Choose to write about things or information about which you are well aware. Fast across the message, and present the information in quality manner as someone is spending his quality time reading your site. If you try to cover a large topic in an unconvincing way, people will probably move on leaving your site reading unfinished.

3. Have a nice beginning. If the first paragraph of your article is critical and lifeless, chances are very rare that it would be read by visitors for prolonged period. Don’t write in a monotonous way for pages just to convince people for the products and services. You must keep their interest right from the start and drive them to buy what you intent to sell.

4. Coding and programming your page is very important. Don’t load your site with unnecessary features that slow the access to your content. Using of CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) is the customary standard in web design as compared to visual mark-up HTML tags. If you wish to use image, it should be small that gives the user option to enlarge. Never use music or sound, pop up windows, blinking text, Java applets, JavaScript, undue animation, Flash Intros and other unnecessary features that only slow the access to your content.

5. Avoid long text. Instead, provide content in broken up short paragraphs. The information given in short splits allows people to digest the content faster. Don’t replace images to text that requires longer time to load, and is not searchable by the blind search engines. Allow users to read your message easily in neat and clean non-irritating environment.

6. It is important that you have actual links underlined, if it is included in a paragraph of text. Your readers will be confused when they find underline text is not actual link, and they may fail to catch valuable information.

7. Using of banner at the top of your page might take your customers to another site. Even if your banner is for advertising, limit the number of banners to not more than two per page. Always be alert that your advertising is relevant to the content.

8. The final important point is to remember content without promotion is nothing but “just content”. Write industry oriented content to be listed in search engines, and to get the people visit your site to accomplish your purpose of selling. Read more… »