What is the most ideal whitepaper? Technically, it is few pages of a report educating the readers about solving a product issue or it can also be a narrative of a new legislation.

To a fair extent, it can be called a marketing document, but one which does not deliver a sales pitch. Apart from touching-up on the issues with a product, it also enlightens the users about the advantages associated with that product.

Now with so many requisites to cater to, drafting a whitepaper that appeals to the intended audience is most definitely challenging, to say the least.

Who is it For? Before you start writing a whitepaper, the first thing you need to keep in mind is that you are not writing for geeks. It is the general audience, which may or may not be aware of all the technicalities associated with that product. Highlight the proof points that they identify with the most. What your audience would be interested in knowing is that how a specific technology will unravel with the answers for the current business issues.

How to Start. At the end of the day, a whitepaper is a technical piece of document. Thus, introducing the whitepaper with a not-so technical abstract in the beginning won’t be a bad idea after all. Explain the purpose of the document in that whitepaper that would prompt the readers to be interested enough in knowing the details that follow.

When to Get Technical. Once you reach the technical part, elaborate on the issue on-hand. Whilst, it has to be scientific, do make sure you don’t use too many jargons that might confuse the readers.

Why they Need it. Educate the users about how the technology in question solves the problem. Readers need to know how that technology works and its applications. Put in context all the benefits that users of the product will obtain.

What to Conclude with. As with any other write-up, the way you conclude your whitepaper content is something that will go a long way in determining how well it is received. This is the part where the marketing aspect of it steps-in. Tell your readers why this technology offers them the best of solutions, giving them ample reasons to buy it.

These tactics would help you communicate more effectively with the audience by the means of your whitepaper. Though it does take few hits to write a reasonably good whitepaper, but once you get it, you know your writing skills have just reached a new level.

Advertising has been the oldest method in history to further an idea into minds. From word-of-mouth strategies to catchy jingles selling detergent, the idea behind advertising has always been to grab eyeballs. And with the different forms of media at their disposal namely print, electronic and broadcast; reaching out to people with a persuasive idea has never been difficult. The challenge that the advertising industry must constantly answer is reinvention in the face of changing times. Gone are the days when people would collect in swarms to watch the successful young women in Santoor soap ads turning out to be older than expected, humming the jingle along. Time is a precious commodity and the Generation Y knows too well, to waste it. With changing times advertising industry must revamp their strategies to keep up.

In the recent times, keeping up with the advents of virtual marketing, the advertising industry has managed to tap the throbbing vein of the generation and has paved its way to maintain their stronghold over the minds. Now “likes”, “tweets” and viral videos sell products much faster than the other traditional methods.

Advertising entails understanding the audience thoroughly and by employing the what, why, when, how and where in their strategies they are reaching out to wider mass appeal. Selling a brand has transcended the usual “buy my product” theme, now ‘advertainment’ is the mantra of the game.  To this end new media has emerged as the savior of advertising methods, reaching out to people across various socio-economic layers at once.

The use of ultra targeted campaigns with relevant customized messages along with launching initiatives to build a natural viral scenario has been the contemporary strategy, in a nutshell.

On the economical level modern day advertising methods has been banking on money making strategies using the Internet as the modus operandi. Pay per click advertising and Ad Sense are making use of referral advertising to propel its outreach and earn revenue. With the advent of new media, traditional media however has had to take a step back. With interactive satellite television companies making their technology better, viewer can skip ads with just a touch of a button on their remote. The challenge, now for the electronic media would either be to make their ads crisp and even more eye catching, or abandon ship and target the same audience on a different platform. At the end of the day no two ads are the same. They target a different audience, a different mindset and a different appeal. The advertising industry has a bright future catering to mass consumerism and adapting to new socio-cultural and technological changes.

“There are only two types of speakers in the world, the nervous and the Liars”
- Mark Twain

Feeling panicky right before you are supposed to deliver a speech is an inevitable situation. That said however, a well drafted speech in your pocket will most definitely salt away the possibility of a heart attack!

Delivering a speech is all about winning your audience, something which has to be reflected upon while writing that speech. When writing on a specific subject, people tend to start drafting essays or articles instead of writing a speech, failing to spot the difference between the two. Whilst speech has to be conversational, essays comprise of the ‘read only’ stuff. Big words and multifarious looking sentences do make an article look impressive; a speech though, has to be simple, communicative and restrained. Just make sure you don’t bore your audience to death.

And contrary to the popular belief, it is not the short sentences that enhance your speech or make it more listenable. Rather, the fluency of the speech depends on the delivery style of the speaker. If the speaker’s tone of speech is suited to long sentences, there is no reason why you should cling onto the primitive and orthodox practice of writing short sentences. Moreover, too many breaks or full-stops in a speech make you sound mechanical, the last thing you want when on a dais.

A useful practice you can employ while writing a speech is to read your speech out loud. You have to keep yourself in the place of a listener to know whether you are sounding clunky or graceful, tongue-tied or smooth. It is the best way to iron out the weak ends that affect your clarity of speech.

Doing a fair bit of research before you start writing familiarizes you to the topic and lends credibility to your words. You can also include questions in your speech. Audience may or may not answer those questions but it sure makes them think and be more involved during the speech.

Key to an impressive speech is a great beginning and an even better ending. A good beginning will help you grab the attention of listeners while a great finish is what will stay etched in the minds of listeners long after the speech is over, at least proverbially.

These are just a few tips for you to get started but speech writing is much more than following certain rules and guidelines. Know your strengths, weaknesses and your audience (and make sure your speech endings are not as messy as this)

Remember the uninformed and surprising entry of the Facebook Timeline? A number of us did not like the very idea of it, and its usage was definitely not in question. Many of my online friends were completely against it and voiced their criticism against the time-line feature pretty openly. Discussions about the time-line that led to unfair opinions against Zuckerberg and his declining sense of design were so common that I doubt if an unintended viral may not have affected  the opinion of even those who would have liked to give a thumbs-up (read: like) to the time-line feature.

You may or may not be comfortable with the timeline settings for now but what matters is if you have switched to it then it is indeed good for you. I have a silly habit of searching for things that seem disconcerting. The timeline feature in particular was for example one of the many ‘not-so-important-yet-on-my-mind’ things that undoubtedly was something that I wanted to know more about. Why so much of a brouhaha over something that was only a part of the virtual world? Why is everyone discussing it? Actually, no one was really discussing it. EVERYBODY WAS CRITIQUING. So, I took to studying the timeline and to my surprise what seemed useless for a complete bundle of goodies. I now can’t think of another way of great online marketing.

Many businesses as of present have switched to the timeline feature but haven’t been able to figure out how to benefit from it. In a market that is inexorably focused on social media, the Facebook timeline has given businesses some extremely simple ways of getting ahead with online marketing.

Advantage Cover Photo

The cover photo becomes an evident part of your Facebook profile once you have agreed to use the timeline. Inarguably, this is the most important feature of the timeline also as it a strategically thought adding that helps businesses to improve the visual-designs of their companies. This is the place where you communicate with the world in pictures. This is where on-line marketing is at its active most level. Put a cover photo that draws attention and captures the essence of your business. Be creative, take it seriously and the timeline will come alive, acting as a salesman for your business.

A Tryst at the Template

 Many of us may not know that it’s not just the look that has changed but so has the purpose and intent. Facebook timeline allows a lot more interaction and rendezvous than the earlier version did. You can make use of the template/body at the advantage of online marketing. Highlight items on your page, feature stories, and pin to other websites for a full-fledged online marketing experience. And, then there is a bar to the right-side just below the cover photo which contains four boxes labelled pictures, maps, notes, etc. You can intelligently customize these boxes to display the products, brochures and content of the company.

Knowing the Admin Panel

 No one paid attention to this, right? Well, the admin panel which is a useful part of the timeline is a feature that monitors all the activity that is taking place on your business page. There is also an “Insight Box” that is helpful to convert the user data into a statistical and/or graphical form. This helps you analyze your popularity and reach towards the World Wide Web audience.

The Kolaveri Di about the Timeline took some time to settle but its now time you start benefiting from the well-planned strategy.

Imagine yourself in a dilemma. You are a freelance writer asked to visit Rajasthan and write an article describing your trip. Apart from being worried about the flesh-burning heat of the place, it happens to be your first travel article and you are absolutely blank, to say the least, on how to get started.

In pursuit of some suggestions, you sought help of two experienced travel writers who add to your perplexity with totally different answers. A certain Ram spends his excursion by collecting piles of information in advance, randomly going to as many places as he can and taking down notes furiously. Shyam, on the other hand, has a more tourist-like approach. He spends his excursion going to pre-planned places and casually taking down notes.

As surprising as it may sound, Shyam’s more relaxed approach is a better way to write a travel article, and not without reasons.

For writing a travel piece, one needs to sit back, relax and just breathe the place. You have to listen to the sounds of your surroundings and capture the sights. A well-documented research and scheduling done beforehand lets you absorb yourself in into the environs without worrying too much about having to pen down every little detail of the site. The more you map-out your trip before you reach the destination, the more you are there.

That said however, research forms only a part of THE mission. In case of Rajasthan, for instance, no matter how many pages of information you have gathered about the place, it won’t really help if you don’t have a proper attire that suits its climate along with perhaps a pair of sunglasses, to make the *viewing* more soothing. A map, camera, cell phone and enough cash are basic requirements for any trip to any place.

You need to know what life on road is like, before you start writing about travel. At the end of the day, what matters is whether you can make the destination come alive in the minds of your readers.

To build a brand, online marketing is one of the key tools in the advertising process. Here are a few useful online marketing tips that can you can use in your brand building process-

1. Go Viral - Viral marketing has proven to be beneficial as a launch pad for many new brands. All you need to do is to make a video on a topic relevant to the brand personality, its goals etc. The video goes viral on many social media websites and relies on its likeability power. A rather informal way of communicating, the main objective of this approach is to redirect the viewers to the brand’s website and inform them of the brand’s presence.
2. Chase the Social Media- If your brand is not present on Facebook and Twitter; you might be from the 20th century. An informal and interesting way of interacting with your customers directly, it makes it easier for many people to know about you. Make a brand page, get the timeline and get started. Talk to the people, hold contests, upload the photographs, get a celebrity to endorse your page and your brand and you will soon rise up in the success graph.
3. E-mail marketing- Sending out emails to your customers is a sure shot way of grabbing attention. Since this activity is known and already practiced, why not sell the new wine in old bottle. E-mailers are known to be boring and irritating and to actually make it work; you need to be unique and different. Use an attractive template with an informal language so that the readers connect with them.
4. Banners and Print ads- Remember that tiny ad you saw on the right side while you were reading your emails on yahoo? Well, those are the ads online. You can post ads of your website or brand on any website you feel already attracts the traffic. Make your ads creative and leave a sense of mystery in their content or a picture to redirect the reader to your website.
5. Blogging- Blogging about your brand is an excellent idea. Set up your blog and invite your existing customers to read and follow it. The content may not necessarily be about your product, but also the interesting facts relevant to the industry etc. E.g. giving fashion tips to the young lads if you are into fashion business.
6. Submit Articles- One of the effective ways of marketing online is submitting written content on the various article submission websites. The articles can be on subjects and topics related to your industry and about your products. They divert traffic to your website and help in better SEO (Search engine optimization) of your website.
7. Form groups and forums- A lesser known marketing habit, you can make use of forming groups and forums on yahoo and Google and add your customers. This will update your customers about the ongoing discussions and the latest from you. In return they will be engaged in your brand and will also do some word of mouth publicity for free.

With various platforms of interactive media being launched each day, one has ample options to explore. So, reach out and make a difference!

Imagine existing in a world, where humanity only lives on paper and all the otherwise verbal exchange happens in print with words materializing on the surface. If we had to market our identity, we would want to put our best face forward, proverbially and literally.

A resume is our identity on paper that we use to secure positions for education or employment purposes, thus what we show tells the hiring manager a lot about ourselves. It includes information pertaining to our personal and professional profile, work experience, education and skills.  Putting such vital information merits careful construction and intelligent phrasing to be able to convey the intended meaning.

With the existing competition gripping individuals ever so tightly, the paranoia behind a good resume is unsettling. However due to the advent of numerous professional writing services, making a resume is now everyone’s cup of tea. Nowadays a host of professional writers provide guidance on how a novice should construct their resume to suit a certain job profiles. With the trends of resume writing changing with the evolving industry standards, the gentle nuances of writing a resume still adhere to the tried and tested methods of yester-years.

Now a thing to realize is that no two resumes are alike, and should be kept that way. The resume in all its nuances should ideally convey how well the candidate can do, what he/she claims to do. It is not an unintelligible bare mention of factual experience, but a unique value proposition, that sets you apart from the next individual. Nuances tell a story – they weave in the concepts of team building, leadership, perseverance and diligence based on intelligently phrased achievements and experiences.  Subtle nuances provide additional dimensions to the words written in print on the resume. They flesh out the individual behind the words, and give them a standing – on how they would deal with official circumstances and workplace environment. For an employer doesn’t seek an employee merely to fill a vacancy – but to enrich the holistic work environment with the addition of work-driven individuals.

This is where the professional writers come into being. They convert the lackluster achievement into statements that sets one apart from the herd. When it all comes down to that one chance to be able to make a difference to the hiring manager, one should pull out all stops to make sure that their resume stays on people’s minds.

For someone who has always abhorred and dreaded the concept of matrimonial sites and wedding planners,  could it get better than being awarded the task of scripting content for one of the many spawning ‘ matrimonial sites’? Well, I guess just like marriages this was also destined. No offence, but although I don’t believe in this institution, I have absolutely no qualms writing on and about it. And, with the inquisitive fire in my belly about why would somebody who is a nobody to you will provide you with what the matrimonial sites and wedding planners call ‘services’, I began my new assignment on ‘writing for a matrimony website’.

The Beginning

 It all started with a two day long search. I set my mind on short-listing the best of the references available on the internet and using them later while penning down the content. Why did it take me the entire two days? Well, my search was quite elaborate, 60 short-listing to be precise. Sadly, I used only 6 of them. But, then that’s what search is all about, stocking up on the best of the stuff available, be it sites or matrimonial profiles.

The End

 I am not very sure whether it is the end or just the beginning, because although my work is done and dusted, the feedback remains. It was a week long assignment (guessing) which has been completed with the help of some really good references and a little creative genius. Keeping fingers crossed for the feedback.

Everything In Between

 Having written for almost 5 or 6 websites now, I can say that my confidence about understanding the client requirements has increased from a scale of 4 on 10 to 7 on 10. While working on this particular assignment I took a backward to forward working approach starting with the technicalities and then came to the main pages that required me to add frills. This way I understood the entire process and functioning better; therefore, the chances of factually going wrong were thin. Searching for taglines and writing quotes for a matrimonial site was another thing on my ‘to-do’ list. Having written around 10 of them and getting a ‘rejected mail’ for all of them, I penned another set of 10. Hard work it was but then it was also fun. In the process I also stumbled upon a few like ‘for getting the right one, for get the wrong one’.

The take home for me and all of you who have made an effort to reach till here reading this post is that, always make your research as elaborate and wide as possible. Relate to the purpose and vision of existing players in the market and try to understand ‘Why’ are they promising so. Try to understand what the audience is looking for and what kind of services will appeal to it. Only once you understand the psychology behind the initiative shall you start scripting the website content.

A certain Tulip Garden restaurant decides to revamp their menu to attract vegan customers. Word of mouth – being the less effective method in the small community that it was- the business suffered due to lack of proper marketing strategies. So the restaurant put up an interactive game on their website akin to Farmville on Facebook in which the player grew their own produce and made their own Garden burgers. The game also provided opportunities to be able to find hidden free burger vouchers, to enjoy the same, in real at the restaurant. The links were shared on Facebook and Twitter. Soon the game became viral, attracting almost 500 retweets and over 100 shares on Facebook. Their business made most of the situation and the average vegan, found a perfect BBQ styled vegan burger within a stone’s throw.

We are living in the age of the “sharing” economy, where social media optimization (SMO), one of the many methods, is used as leverage to market products and services. In the world, where grabbing eyeballs is better than delivering lackluster information ; where ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ are the rule of the land, social media marketers must up their game in order to be in the proverbial spotlight. Like a dress on Etsy? Share it with your friends on Facebook, Tweet it! Stumble it! Digg it! Your friends can discover the link in their notifications, and voila! more traffic redirected to Etsy. Social media is an indispensable tool for growing businesses, who want their followers to discover, consume and engage with their content effectively. And to that end, the content strategy must be rich and should allow the recipients to coherently convert from content to conversation, from conversation to relationships with the brand or company, from relationships to potential businesses, and from businesses it to ROI. To achieve this SMO must centre on generating dialogue, influencing collaboration, effective segmentation, targeting, and focus on personalized customer attention. At the end of the day social media marketing requires you to be socially active virtually. Web users no longer look for information with the sole expectation of achieving just results. They wish to interact, connect with the results before they form their opinions. They visit pages that their friends recommend and click on shared links. With this degree of personalization the brand needs to come across as real to the consumer. In this regard specific keywords and links is the new moolah vending strategy for SMO.

Thus when a searcher brings forth a query on a search engine, the result is displayed along with matching ads that redirect him to further resources on other websites. In a world of social media marketing strategies lost – Content is the newfound ‘Holy Grail’.

SEO is the buzzword right now in the content writing industry.  It has become all the more popular owing to huge rush of demand from major sectors of the economy. What’s more? The craze for SEO is directly proportional to the usage of internet and related services.

However, for beginners SEO can get tricky. Here are a few tips that will help beginners get their SEO right:

• Those who are adept with Java should note that it’s not always the best option. Try using text links instead.
• Keywords are the key to an impressive SEO content. In three words: density, count and organization, that’s what SEO is all about
• Make the title catchy. A title that attracts reader’s attention will definitely help you get a higher ranking.
• If the title isn’t that great and otherwise also, make your content as interactive as possible. This will help you maintain the page rank in the longer run and make readers comeback to the page.
• Some things do not really matter as much as they are believed to. For example, the URL links. It is no more than a myth that the more the URLs in your SEO driven content the higher will be the search ratio.
• Nothing is more seductive than *fresh*. Fresh content always makes a difference. Internet is full of words, CONTENT. So any original content is always welcome.

There are a whole lot of ways that can help one make the SEO work. The most important one however is that keep the content focused. KISS is a simple strategy that should be followed in SEO copywriting. Now don’t get your wild thoughts running here. KISS means ‘keep it short and simple’. And yes, do remember to proofread.