I had been quite a fervent writer since my teenage years, but for some reason had no interest in maintaining a diary. No matter how many times I was told to keep my writings in an organized manner I would fail to do so. May be it was a careless attitude or a disinterest in reading from a hard bound book that kept me from maintaining a journal.

Blogs were a breather for me, for when they came I was a little more mature the importance of preserving my works. And, yes they provided a relief from the scribbling ink onto paper too. At the age of 20 began the craze for blogging and no wonder I became habitual at it. Here are some of the learnings that blogging imparted to me:

1)    Knowing Your Reader: This is the first most important lesson that I learnt prior to starting a blog. What I came across was the truth that numbers do matter. I also learned a few tricks like the time of posting a blog, time when web traffic is highest etc. Apart from that I memorized the fact that a reader will read what he likes to read. This lead to my learning number 2.

2)    Give The Content a Face: Everything from the content to the design of the blog to the picture that speaks the story must complement each other. More importantly a user-friendly blog would get much more viewers than the one using an extraordinary but complex theme. Whether your blog is at wordpress or blogger rarely matters if the content is a hit amongst the audience.

3)    Keep It Short and Sweet (KISS): This is a strategy that I always follow when writing something that has a heavy subject. Basically I work by theme method. So, if I am working on content curation, I would probably break down the entire topic into 6 or 5 blogs on different aspects of content curation.

4)    Link With Like-Minds: This way you will have an abundant reservoir of knowledge and information about the subjects that you are interested in. Sharing opinions and views will help you gain a deeper insight into the matter.

These are a few tips that I often keep in mind while blogging. Apart from these, the basics really matter to me a lot while blogging.  Proofreading, editing and organizing content, therefore, come naturally while writing a blog.

A writer will always vouch for reading. No form of writing has been inherited and is rather a result of toiling hard. No writer will proclaim that he was gifted with the power of creating pearls of wisdom with the ink-dipped pen. Moreover, they have been generous enough to share their secret with the world. And, all they give credit to for their exceptional works to is the exceptional work of previous writers. There are a number of reference writings that even great writers refer too and all began as a reader first. Here is a list of 5 books on writing for writers:

1)    Zen In The Art of Writing: This is a different soul curry for writers. Where other writers stretch and manipulate the difficulties that writing poses, Ray Bradley in his book brings a fresh perspective to the world. The book points out at the emotions that must go into the writing. By this book the author wants to highlight the importance of taking work as fun.

2)    Weekly Writes: The book is an excellent example of a help guide for writers. The book will take you on a journey for becoming an extraordinary writer in a fun filled way.

3)    The Elements of Style: The book has been authored by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White; and is a masterpiece. You will be itching to right while reading the book and it will set your direction right.

4)    Reading like a Writer: Authored by Francine Prose, this book has the power of distinguishing good writing from very good and very good from excellent. It will help you out with the technicalities and philosophy of writing.

5)    On Writing: The book is an interesting mix of a writer’s autobiography and teachings on writing. Contrary to Zen in the Art of Writing, the book talks about the other side of writing.

Adding these books to your shelf will mark a new beginning in your writing arena. Reading them will be the start of a new you. And, following them would bring to life a great writer. Apart from books one should read blogs from writers, to keep a track of the writing styles that are emerging and those that are fading away.

Change has not spared any thing or any one. No, not even poetry has been able to retain its original flavor. For good or for bad, things in the literary world have changed and that too like never before. Here is a poetic expression trying to unfold the many shifts that have made an irreversible impression on poems and prose.

The bygone era, no longer lingers, the coming one has no mention about.

Thoughts don’t stay for more than a second, and go away at the click of a mouse.

It may not be the best of poetic lines that you must have read, but is a sincere effort to bring you closer to the crux of this blog. In an era where everything is coming and going like a flash of light, including emotions, an encapsulating poem is a rare gem to find.

There was a time when even a poem lacking in purpose managed to spin a meaning out of it. Nothing lacked on the moral factor. When compared as of today, I feel there is always something or the other lacking. Is it the expression, the motive or the adressal, that is lacking, knows only the writer.

So why did Poetry Change in the First Place?

The answer to this question lies in the fact that poetry is born as a residual of moods and emotions. Adding to it is contemplation that further requires one to keenly observe ones acts, behavior, thoughts and actions. Research points out and literary geniuses support the reason that a combined effect of public neglect and rising careerism have led to this situation that is often termed as spiritual stagnation. A fast paced life topped with little or no place for emotional splurging has further diminished the attraction that poetry once held.

Is it all that bad?

Luckily enough, there is an amusing way in which the best of works always survive and flourish. Same is the case with poetry as some manage to keep its charm alive till date. So what if the world is changing, change is not all that bad. Language may have taken an entirely new direction, words may have become something that we type daily on key boards, but there are still some souls on this planet who believe that everything is Rhythm.

Needless to say, Social media as a marketing trend has proved to be a blessing for businesses around the world. Being on social networking websites has helped many businesses improve their brand image and personality. Go on the search tab and you would find each and every brand present with many followers. While busy planning their social media marketing strategies aggressively for Facebook and Twitter, what many brands are missing out is an equally effective networking giant- Google Plus.

Google plus has a lot of offer to each business for growth and for instant recognition. Ahead of other networking giants in terms of control over privacy and its SEO features, here is how Google plus can help a great deal in promoting a business-

Share- You can create your own company or brand page on Google plus and it gives you the freedom to share updates, promotions, links, pictures, news etc. This helps you stay in touch with your customers and clients in a convenient way.

Circles- Circles is probably the most talked about feature on Google plus. Circles let you segment your followers in different groups. A company can divide its clients, employees and customers in separate circles to have a more focused and targeted approach.

Measure- Google plus is much ahead of its counterparts, when it comes to privacy and at the same time it allows a business to measure how its follower’s interactions are affecting the brand and the overall business.

Hangouts-The hangout feature is probably the most useful for businesses spread across the globe. It enables video chat with over ten people at a time, a feature that can eliminate the high costs of web conferencing. So, next time you have to interact with a client or customer from another country, you know whom to rely on.

SEO- Another useful trick for businesses working hard for generating traffic is the SEO feature. Google plus gives some links to its users that Facebook and Twitter don’t. It helps a website or a blog improve their overall search engine rankings for the growth of their brand.

Mobile marketing is a new trend in the marketing world. Being an entrepreneur, if you are still thinking what this new trend is all about, you surely need to catch the business week updates. Mobile marketing defined in simple language means, use of mobile phone as a means of marketing or distribution of any kind of advertising message to the existing and potential customers. It means that your mobile phone is no longer only used for e-mails and accessing social media, it has become a marketing tool. So next time you get a message that offers you a discount on a product, you know you are hit by mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing includes, providing customers with personalised information, time and locations, promoting ideas, goods and services. Mobile has played a significant role in making marketing efforts successful, reason being the reach of the mobile phone. Presently, there are 330 million mobile subscribers, and the number is ever increasing. As far as reach is concerned, even the top most businessmen have confessed that a simple SMS has done wonders in promoting their business. Knowing the fact that mobile marketing is not as cost-effective as print or television, marketers are still ready to invest in it. This is because the advertisers know that if once the message is sent using mobile phones, customers will surely see the text message the next moment.

Apart from being a lucrative tool for the marketers and advertisers, mobile marketing has been intruding in the customers’ private space. In order to keep a check on this medium, the National Do Not Disturb (NDND) and NDNC Registry of the mobile number, who are not interested to get such promotional messages, work to safeguard customers’ private space.

Just three years and it is a big hit. Yes! If you are still not a tweeter, it’s high time for you to start your Twitter account now. Apart from SEO and article marketing, it is undeniable that social media marketing has become another viable means that has a great influence on people. An experienced tweeter can very well understand how effective Twitter can be in achieving marketing goals. Lately, it has become the number one platform to disseminate information in matter of seconds.

Twitter has provided a lucrative shelter to the marketing world to showcase their products and carry out their speedy promotions. Having twitter followers has become an asset these days, and this is the reason, why the new craze of buying Twitter followers has hit the marketing specialists. The more followers you have the more online influence you create.

• Followers on Twitter help in building awareness. It does not matter, whether the tweet is from friends or strangers, it has the capability to quickly disseminate information and make people aware with a blink of an eye.
• It helps the marketers to get the right customers for their product by getting right Twitter followers. It truly takes no time in converting the followers into buyers once you are following the right track.
• Twitter is not only becoming marketers’ favorite, but even interactive and feasible way to reach to others in your social environment.
• For those who are facing problems in increasing the followers on Twitter, you can easily try all your options and even buy followers from credible sources.

Waking up at 3 am in the morning can be the worst nemesis for people like me! That doesn’t mean that I prefer opening my eyes after the world sits in front of the computer screen. Moreover, a two hour slumber is just not enough to invite your ‘nature calls’, at least for me. I will definitely prefer not to go into the details. Before I turn into the comically ‘gore’ details, let me enlighten you all with the reason behind my nemesis. Its TWO CHIMNEYS – a stark and lusciously beautiful resort in a small village in Nainital called Gethia.

Surviving in a mercilessly busy city like Delhi shoots up your urge to break away from its noise. Entering the lap of nature stands to be the last resort to freshen up your body and soul. TWO CHIMNEYS potentially ignites your love for nature and reminds you of the level of miserable life that you are leading in the city. Situated 340 kms (approximate) away from the capital city of Delhi, TWO CHIMNEYS is no less than a home for the entire ITALICS/MARKIGENCE team (I wish we all had the luxury to stay in such resort for our entire life). The entire ITALICS/MARKIGENCE herd was super elated about the trip to TWO CHIMNEYS.

Start the Sail

Travelling woes were puked out of the window while on the way to Gethia. The excitement to enjoy a couple of days in this beautiful resort surpassed all our usual ‘deadline’ cravings. Though the period for stay in the resort had a little frowning, the picturesque beauty of the hills wiped away all our apprehensions. A team of twelve people inside a ‘so-called’ comfortable tempo-traveler, a typically frustrated budding driver with no etiquettes, some confusing music playing, loads of laughter and finally a sigh of relief after reaching the destination – if that’s what a deliberately stretched 10 hour long journey should be, I would always love to have one each year, excluding the vehicle and ‘Mr. Macho Driver’.

Here WE Come!!

The first thing to do soon after we reach the resort was to put some relaxation and then sit for lunch. But when you make a plan to start the journey at 5 am and actually start it at 6 am and then, when you intend to reach by 2 pm in the noon and reach by 4 in the evening, you are least bothered about the beauty of the place. So, what do you do? The resort staff prepares awesome mutton platters! Don’t worry; you have other mouth-watering dishes too waiting for you. Make sure you leave a little of everything for your friends. Lunch at 4 pm may not be the same story for all, but you won’t disagree with the taste of the food being provided to you.

Let’s Get Started

After we hogged on our lunch, few of us dived into the cute-looking pool, few others settled themselves in the entertainment room with Table Tennis sessions and Television and the rest got busy with exploring the resort. What makes TWO CHIMNEYS a unique resort is the way in which each and every space in the area has been used. Both financial and emotional investment has produced a magical shelter which just stands apart from the other ones. Evening time was ‘Alcohol-time’ accompanied by some entertainment and music. After a 10 hour long journey, few of us were really excited to get a ‘footloose’. So, the onus was on me! Few of my colleagues were no different from college and University batch mates – they considered me to be the perfect entertainer of the evening. Well, by now they know how good I am at that!

After the entertainment session, it was time again for hogging on to the dinner. Post-dinner, sleeping was declared to be a sin, although few were allowed to commit the sin! A collectively stoned blabbering till 4 am wakes few of the male members of the team early in the morning. Nothing different with the female section too! After breakfast, pool party was another entertaining session. With a team of two swimmers and all amateurs, you can easily predict the pathetic picture of the situation. To make it worse, you have a ball game in the pool. All wearied out after the game, few of us took the challenge to trek the steep hills leading to the beautiful city of Nainital. Unfortunately, trekking even half of it was a distant call, but we were immensely awestruck by the wilderness of the surrounding hills.

Some More Entertainment

The second day evening session was probably the most hilarious laughter sessions we had in our life. What was so hilarious about the evening?  Well, we just polluted the traditional wear of a politician so bad that we were quite sure about the fact that he must have felt something while he was wearing it in the same day (or evening, irrespective of what kind of activities he was indulged in with his traditional wear). The night before we left TWO CHIMNEYS would go down the memory lanes of all those who managed to keep their eyes and ears wide awake. The darkest and the funniest secrets of some of our members were revealed during the age-old golden game of ‘TRUTH and DARE’ during the night. Each one of us who participated in the game should admit the fact that such close colleagues would be a tough task in the future.

The day we bid adieu to TWO CHIMNEYS, we promised to come back and hoped to have a longer stay in our next trip.

A sudden hysteria about Google+ had gripped in recently in the social media hemisphere. Every single social media addict saw another luring and engaging element in the internet. The world of social media finally received a vent for an even more engaging social media platform. With the biggest and the most popular search engine as its parent driving force, Google+ harbored the potential to break all social media records. Initially, Google+ churned out its own improvised version of FACEBOOK which looked like a little vulnerable feature developed by Google. That the FACEBOOK generation will flip in to another major social media venture instantly was way ahead of our imagination.

Today, post 90 million users, all of us need to give up our skeptic garbs. Google+ is successfully bringing in more user friendly interface and has been able to garner immense popularity among a considerable section of social media users. Talking about business in social media, a considerable section of businessman regard Google+ as a ‘too early to consider’ job. In that case, it’s time to refurbish the true business instincts. There is just one simple reason to station your business in Google + – the search engine visibility which can either completely take your business to unimaginable heights or kick you down from unbelievable crests of efforts!

A brand new key feature called the ‘Search +’ or the ‘Search Plus Your World’ algorithm promises to play an important role in improving business prospects. The output generated from the algorithm helps in displaying/promoting People and Business Pages in Google+. Again, it may look like an early consideration. However, we should remember that it is the biggest search engine in the world which providing some platform to businesses. The introduction of a new algorithm has increased the possibility of search results to a great extent both inside and outside the Google+ environment. Just like FACEBOOK, Google+ users also view updates from people being followed. However, what makes it stand out from the other social media networks is its high ranking facility for the posts.

If your Google+ status keyword and topic-centered, it helps improve the ‘AuthorRank’ along with content-specific engagement levels. Secondly, one can directly interact with the followers in specifically formed ‘circles’. This particular feature helps businesses interact with groups of people formed on the basis one’s own preferences. Creating a Google+ Resources circle is the first step towards building business prospects via Google+. Google+ Your Business Page is the initial page that should be added in this circle. Given below are a few recommended actions required for a full-throttle start-up page for a business page in Google+: -

• The completion of the verification process while creating page, adding all recommended links and smart placement of keywords in the introduction section and subtitle areas helps you optimize your business page.
• ‘Scrapbook’ photos and text editing features should be used in maximum in order to make the page visually appealing and resembling the brand identity.
• Control over personal profile pages in G+ announcement and requests helps promote a business on other social networks. Using Google+ badges also enhances social media visibility.
• Regular monitoring of stream by analyzing the +1’s, comments and shares of follower’s posts will help in keeping a track over the popularity level of a particular business.
• Regular posting of videos and photos brings in more clicks. Creating influential first few posts encourages greater number of visits by followers.
• The circles formed should be targeted accordingly in order to attain maximum responses for a particular business plan.

Following all the above actions can bring in a fresh air of ideas for popularizing a particular business in the cyberspace. Also, with Google, chances of success and failure hang in balance.

It is always interesting to read an article that is concise, crisp and conveys the message effectively. Writers certainly have to strive in order to get the message clear in minimum words or rather the word limit assigned to them. Sometimes, it may not be very pleasing for the writer to stay within the word limits, but if we look at the brighter side of using word limits, there are a number of advantages. At the very first place, it is important that the writer should respect the word limits, and comfortably produce an effective piece of writing.

A reader will definitely not spend more than a few seconds if he finds the very first paragraph of the article not addressing to his/her questions. This is the reason that word limits help the writers to stay focused on the main topic and not beat around the bush just to add to the length of the article. It becomes important to make the point clear with fewer words. Fewer and powerful words will also make the article thought provoking for the target readership.

Remember, readers’ time is valuable and a writer must take this into account while writing an article. Word limits help you generate a piece of writing that will definitely not waste readers’ time in reading something that is of no use for them. On the other hand, if a piece of writing involves all the required information in fewer words that requires less time to read will certainly satisfy the reader and as well as the writer. Word limit if utilized properly can be surely an aide for the writer and not a hindrance in the writing process.

There are a lot of facts hovering around us which we are least interested in. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are also a part of these facts. You will definitely not be put through the same old astrological predictions about your future (No offenses for people who believe in it). However, our busy life never really allows us to ponder over these facts. Human psychology has been an endless well of myriad quests. Part of it leads to unexpected results and the rest of it achieves what it wants. A continuous streak of spiraling thoughts is garnered through a number of experiences that a human mind goes throughout its life on earth.

Delving no more into extremely serious discourse further, let’s talk about the habits which we often forget to ponder upon. Right now, the fact that’s crawling my mind is entertainment section of a magazine! Glitz and glamour are the top luring factors used by the magazine publishers to garner immense readership. How many of us have not really turned over the last page of an ‘OUTLOOK’ magazine as soon as it’s in our hands? Initially you would definitely deny the fact. However, the stealth of your desires would definitely agree with fact.

Why does the word ‘celebrity’ gain so much of hype? Today, even the slightest event of their life is never really hidden from us. Some of us are really disgusted with such unnecessary publicity stunts. But then you wonder how many people do really hate to listen or see such news! The obvious justification would definitely be their popularity quotient. Be it newspapers, magazines or the cyber world, a celebrity news always makes up for the perfect recipe for the day. It’s not about caring for the future generations, but it’s about the amount of heed that we lack in providing to the required discourses.

It is an obvious sentiment to get irritated by being bombarded of news about violence, corruption, poverty, global warming and many other such grim issues early in the morning. Refreshing information accompanied by some luscious images adds on to the spice for the day! Right now you may feel like stepping inside some boring philosophy class which you would never like to attend in your wildest dreams. However, denying the deteriorating human values would be too childish. We need to admit the fact that we are losing faith in our own conscience and in our own intellectual capability.

Reading news articles can never be termed as a monotonous activity as long as we keep on skimming through entertainment and lifestyle news. However, a greater inclination towards other important information will not only steer the readership of a particular region towards the required knowledge bank, it will also help in developing an optimistic framework for a country. An instant solution will definitely not surface itself, but taking the first step always helps in creating the required atmosphere to do so.