Join the coalition that struggles against the gun holdings.

How to Write a Professional Short Bio (With Examples)

Writing a short bio is an important part of introducing yourself to potential employers, clients or contacts. Your short bio has the potential to help you make positive impressions that can impact your professional development and success. If you are interested in learning to write effective short bios, you will need to know what to include and what an effective short bio looks like.

Short bios are concise, biographical paragraphs that professionals use to introduce themselves. You can often find short bios on social media profiles, personal websites and company team directories. Short bios are typically used to provide a summary of an individual’s accomplishments, an overview of their career history and a description of their professional goals.

Your short bio is often the first (and perhaps only) thing a potential employer, client or contact will read before deciding to contact you, so it is important that your bio be accurate, informative and memorable. It’s a good idea to include:

How to write a short bio

01. Introduce yourself

Begin your bio by stating your first and last name. If you’re writing in the third person, these should be the first two words of the paragraph. This makes your name easy for your audience to identify and remember.

02. State your company or brand name

Think about whether you want your bio to represent yourself on a personal level, or whether you’d like it to come across as more professional. If you have a personal brand or business – for example, a blog, freelance business or eCommerce site – be sure to mention your brand name at the beginning of your bio. Don’t be afraid if the name sounds simple or redundant. It’s perfectly fine, for instance, to say Mary Smith is the founder and CEO of Smith Digital.

Likewise, feel free to mention the name of another company or brand that you work for if you’d like to associate it with your professional accomplishments – e.g., Mary Smith is a consultant at Google and the founder and CEO of Smith Digital.

03. Explain your professional role

Next, briefly explain your current position. This is relevant whether you’re the founder of a company, a high-level specialist or a beginner in your field, and it can be similar to the description you have on your resume. Your website visitors won’t necessarily know what your job involves, so elaborating on your primary responsibilities helps paint a picture of who you are and what you have to offer.

04. Include professional achievements

In addition to explaining what your job entails, highlight milestones that make you stand out. Even if you haven’t won an award or gained external recognition, you can discuss ways in which you’ve contributed to your professional role and touch on new ideas or approaches that you bring to the table.

05. Discuss your passions and values

Once you describe what you do and how you contribute to your role, you’ll need to explain the why. This is one of the most important elements to focus on as you consider how to write a bio.

You can also think of this part of your bio as a kind of mission statement. Perhaps your mission is to serve others, contribute to society, grow your expertise or learn new skills. Whatever your reasons, expanding upon these ideas can help your audience get a better understanding of what truly matters to you.

06. Mention your personal interests

Transitioning to a more casual discussion of who you are outside of work is a great way to conclude your bio. This will present you as a more well-rounded person while making you relatable for your audience.

4. Your personal website or portfolio “About Me” page

Here’s where you want to lay it all on your audience. You can use as much of the bio you wrote from the template above as you see fit and feel free to expand on whatever sections you’d like. Craft your “About Me” page so potential partners or employers understand what you can do for them and why you’re the person they should hire.

Chad Wilborn takes complex technical ideas and distills them into user-friendly visuals to improve digital marketing campaigns for companies along the West Coast. He has an education in traditional advertising and a background loaded with marketing and graphic design projects, centered around modernizing the consumer experience. Chad’s portfolio demonstrates his ability to capitalize on every pixel for the overall benefit of startups or established enterprises trying to reach consumers. His services have won multiple design and branding awards, and he is excited to help add your company to his list of successes.

I am a modern magician, except I transform complicated technical ideas into user-friendly images before the eyes of your company’s customers. I believe in telling relatable stories through graphics, so I studied the basics of traditional advertising before working my magic on corporate marketing projects for companies along the West Coast. My portfolio showcases a lineup of my most recent tricks, which range from visual startup campaigns to Fortune 500 projects—each of which have won design and branding awards. I’m always ready for new design opportunities and have plenty of room up my sleeve for a few more award-winning performances.

• Know your limits: Just as your resume is best when it fits on one or two pages, your bio likely also requires a certain length. Whether it’s two sentences, two paragraphs, or 160 characters, respect the limit or risk it being arbitrarily chopped down.
• Avoid jargon and buzzwords: When you spend nearly a third of your life at work, it’s easy to forget that the rest of the world doesn’t speak your industry’s (or company’s) language. Use your bio to share facts and impact in terms everyone will understand.
• Use your own voice: Write about what you know best and write the way that you talk. If your bio readers ever meet you in person, they should feel as if they already know you.
• Write more than one draft: Don’t just throw something together and send it off. Write it, sleep on it, then come back to it and ask: “Would I want to meet me?” Or better yet: “Would I want to hire or work with me?”
• Don’t forget to update your bio: Your bio should evolve as you do. If you start looking for jobs in different industries, have a new and exciting accomplishment to note, or just feel ready for a refresh, go for it. Now that you’ve got this draft down, it’ll be easy to rework your professional bio.

Kaysie is a freelance writer with bibliophilic tendencies who covers professional subjects, resume best practices, and a mix of lifestyle topics. When she isn’t helping clients weave their words into gold, she serves as an editorial contributor for HelloFlo and as a resume editor for Elevated Resumes (which you can book on The Muse’s Coach Connect). You can also chat with Kaysie on Twitter @cafeaukay.

Source:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-short-bio
https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/07/how-to-write-a-bio/
https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-professional-bio-template-that-makes-everyone-sound-accomplished

The Entrepreneur’s Complete Guide to Ghostwriting

You have a book in your head that you need to write. You know it will help you and your business, but you haven’t done it, and you probably aren’t ever going to do it yourself. So, what now?

One common solution that a lot of entrepreneurs use is to hire a ghostwriter. A ghostwriter is someone hired to author a book that someone else will be credited for. Quite simply, you’re paying someone to write your book for you.

Shockingly, there is no comprehensive resource that answers all the common questions about ghostwriting and explains the different options to give authors a framework for making a decision. So, I will attempt to give you that here — a complete examination of all aspects of ghostwriting: the positives, the negatives, the alternatives, where to find writers and how to hire them, so you can decide if you want to use a ghostwriter — and if you do, how to do it right.

When to Use Their Voice

1. Main Ideas

The argument of the piece should be determined by your subject, no matter what your personal take on it is. Bear in mind that it’s going to be published under their byline. Your opinion is moot, and therefore should be mute.

Thesis aside, I also steer clear of adding or subtracting ideas. If a subject bothers to bring up an argument that means it’s important to them, and should be featured in the finished product in some way. Conversely, if the subject does not mention a topic, don’t bring it in, no matter how much you think it would bring the point home, clarify the argument, or sound awesome.

2. Signature Words or Phrases

“Bam!” is a fairly innocuous example, but I bet you can think of some favorite turns of phrase that are senseless, silly sounding, or unnecessary. But if this is how the subject talks, then this is how the subject would presumably write. Including signature words makes the article seem more genuine, especially to readers familiar with the person.

The only time I would strike or edit a favorite phrase is if it’s unintentionally grammatically incorrect. All other instances of “BAM!” “fuggetaboutit,” “survey says,” and “that’s all folks!” stay in.

3. Data Points

The problem is there are plenty of statistics out there that aren’t perfect. Sometimes, a subject offers up great data to support their points, and other times … less great. But I try to keep in mind that I’m not the expert here — there’s a reason why the subject used this specific piece of data, and it’s not up to you to judge whether it’s up to par.

I aim to use the majority of data points that subjects give me, but I always inquire after the source. That way, if I really feel shaky about the numbers, I can go back and check into their accuracy on my own. If I find a problem, I bring it to my subject’s attention and let them determine if it should still be published.

How Do You Ghostwrite a Book?

1. What is the Book About?

The first step, then, is to collaborate with the author to create an outline of his or her book. You should also ask the author to recommend several similar titles which you can read as research. (And if they say there are no books like the one they want to write, they probably aren’t reading enough. In this case, find similar titles on your own.)

2. Collect Written and Recorded Materials

Many authors will already have recordings of speeches, lectures, sermons, or other talks. Collect as many of these recordings as you can, especially recordings that apply to your topic.

3. Record Interviews

Interviewing your author is a ghostwriter’s most important task. An hourlong interview can make up an entire chapter in a non-fiction book. The better your questions and the more you can draw out of your client about the content of their book during the interview process, the easier the actual writing will be.

Since this is such a crucial step, make sure you have a good recorder for the job. And don’t forget to have a backup recorder as well. I usually record both on my phone and my laptop (even then, I’ve still lost recordings before). If you’re interviewing your client over phone, you can call them using Skype and record it using Call Recorder.

4. Transcribe Your Interviews

5. Write Your First Draft

The transcriptions of your interviews will become the backbone of your book’s first draft, which is why it’s so important to get a good interview. You will likely have to do a lot of re-writing and editing to make it fit into a full-length book.

6. Write a Second Draft

I never share first drafts with my ghostwriting clients. I’ve found that they’re just too rough. They make the client feel bad about the process. And so I do a heavy edit on the first draft, getting it as close to publishable quality before I send it to them for their review.

7. Author Review

8. Copyediting, Proofreading, and Beta Reading

Source:

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280519
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ghostwriting-tips
https://thewritepractice.com/ghostwrite/

Tips 1-7 On Working a Not-Quite-Dream Job

1. The best career or job is the one in which you’re using the skills you enjoy. But, not every job needs to address all of your passions. Use every job as an opportunity to learn something new and keep an open mind; you may find that you really enjoy something you never imagined would appeal to you.—Miriam Salpeter, Founder of Keppie Careers
2. Don’t take yourself (or your career) too seriously. Plenty of brilliant people started out in jobs they hated, or took paths that weren’t right at the beginning of their careers. Professional development is no longer linear, and trust that with hard work and a dedication to figuring out what you want to do with your life, you, too, will be OK!—Kathryn Minshew, CEO of The Muse
3. Every person you meet is a potential door to a new opportunity—personally or professionally. Build good bridges even in that just-for-now job, because you never know how they’ll weave into the larger picture of your life.—Kristina Leonardi, Career Coach
4. My friend Andre said to me, “You know, Marissa, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to pick the right choice, and I’ve gotta be honest: That’s not what I see here. I see a bunch of good choices, and there’s the one that you pick and make great.” I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten.”—Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!
5. No matter how low on the totem poll you are or how jaded you’ve become by your to-do list, it’s still important to show up early, wear something sharp, and avoid Facebook like the plague. I discovered that when I acted like a professional, I suddenly felt like my work was a lot more valuable. “Looking the part” boosted my confidence, helped me begin to see myself as a highly capable contributor to the team—and ultimately led the rest of my team to see me in the same light.—Lisa Habersack, Writer
6. Remember that a job, even a great job or a fantastic career, doesn’t give your life meaning, at least not by itself. Life is about what you learn, who you are or can become, who you love and are loved by.—Fran Dorf, Author and Psychotherapist
7. If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.—Jane Fonda

1. Every year or two, spend some time really thinking about your career. Go out and warm up your network, check out new opportunities, and do some salary comparisons. You make smarter career decisions when you have real data. Also, if you are afraid or uncomfortable, you are probably onto something awesome! Fear means you are growing your comfort zone.—Christie Mims, Career Coach
2. Don’t be afraid to speak up in a meeting or to schedule a sit down with a colleague or boss—whether to hash out details on a project or deal with a sensitive situation. When it comes to having your ideas heard, or to really connecting with co-workers, never underestimate the power of face time and the importance of in-person communication.—Catherine Straut, Assistant Editor of Elle
3. Some people think the office is the place to be all power, all brilliance, all the time. And while you should strive to make a powerful and brilliant impression, an occasional question or clarification won’t discount your abilities—but it may help you squeeze through a tricky situation with your reputation intact.—Sara McCord, Staff Writer and Editor at The Muse
4. Take criticism or “feedback” for what it is: a gift given to you to make you better at what you do. Don’t concern yourself with the person or the method of delivery. Instead, glean out the teachable nuggets and move on.—Michelle Bruno, President of Bruno Group Signature Events
5. I know. You’ve heard it a thousand times: Dress for the job you want, not the one you’ve got. But I think this message goes far beyond the clothes you wear every day: It’s how you present yourself in meetings and at office events, how you interact with staff both above and below you, and how seriously you take your work.—Adrian Granzella Larssen, Editor-in-Chief at The Muse
6. In chaos, there is opportunity. Most major career accelerations happen when someone steps into a mess and makes a difference.—Kristi Hedges, Leadership Coach
7. Work harder than everyone under you or above you. Nothing commands respect more than a good work ethic. This means being the first one at the event in the morning and the last one to leave in the evening. No one said this gig was easy.—Keith Johnston, Event Consultant at Plannerwire
8. Having a mentor within your company is particularly valuable—she can identify opportunities for advancement you might overlook, guide you through challenging projects, and help you build relationships with higher-ups. Most importantly, if she’s influential, she can earn you recommendations for special projects or teams that you might not have been considered for otherwise. And these are the factors that are going to pave the way for success at your company.—Jessica Taylor, Writer

Tips 16-28 On Excelling in Your Career

1. I first heard Zig Ziglar say it when people challenged him on his “positive attitude” manifesto: “You can do anything with a positive attitude better than you can do it with a negative one.”—Lea McLeod, Career Coach
2. Work hard and be nice to people. It’s a very simple motto I try to live by daily.—Marie Burns, Recruiting Leader at Compete
3. There’s never going to be a precisely right moment to speak, share an idea, or take a chance. Just take the moment—don’t let thoughts like “I don’t feel like I’m ready” get in the way. Look to see if you have the main things or the opportunity will pass you by. Don’t let perfect get in the way of really, really good.—Kathleen Tierney, Executive Vice President and COO of Chubb Insurance
4. Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids.—Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google
5. No matter what your dream job is, you’ll likely hear “no” many times before you achieve your goals. Just accept that as a fact. But by refusing to accept that “no,” you’ll separate yourself from the pack. Sometimes you just have to outlast the competition—and wear down your boss!—Shannon Bream, Supreme Court Correspondent at FOX
6. Tenacity and persistence—nothing beats it. Even if your talent isn’t there yet, you can always develop it to what it will eventually be. But people who are persistent and tenacious and driven and have a really clear, defined goal of what they want, nothing compares to that. Not giving up is really huge.—Catt Sadler, Anchor at E!
7. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. No one got to where they are today without help along the way. Don’t be afraid to ask, and then remember to return the favor.—Elliott Bell, Director of Marketing of The Muse
8. Even if you aren’t feeling totally sure of yourself and your abilities, it’s important you present yourself otherwise. That means shifting your body language to portray confidence. So, while you may be so nervous before your big interview or meeting that you want to curl into a ball, resist the temptation to cower or make yourself smaller, and walk in with your head held high.—Michele Hoos, Writer
9. My advice for everyone in the industry is to find a mentor and to be a mentor. You’ll learn a great deal from both of these experiences, and make sure to leverage these roles for networking. Ask your mentor for introductions, and introduce the person that you’re mentoring to others—both will increase your visibility in the industry.—Mariela McIlwraith, President at Meeting Change
10. I live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the impact can be done with 20% of the work. It’s the last 20% that takes up the most time. Know when to stop, and when things are close enough.—Alex Cavoulacos, COO at The Muse
11. Having a strong network adds to your value as an employee. In other words, the more people I can reach out to for help, the more valuable I am.—Hannah Morgan, Founder of Career Sherpa
12. Do what you say you’re going to do.—Danielle LaPorte, Entrepreneur
13. One of the most important things I’ve found is the importance of playing to your strengths. I think it’s common for us to learn while in school that if you get an A+ in writing and a C- in math, that you should focus your time and attention to getting better at math. In the working world I find it to be the opposite; by putting your focus on those things that you are strongest at, over time you will become an expert at it. By outsourcing your weaknesses to others who excel in those areas, you’ll be able cover those weaknesses better than you could have otherwise. Trying to be great at everything could be spreading yourself thin and keeping you from reaching your full potential in your strongest areas.—Ryan Kahn, Career Coach

1. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people have a lot of ideas that they’d like to turn into businesses—but if your ideas don’t turn into actual money, then you’re not able to turn it into a business. You have to be able to generate revenue first and foremost. A lot of people have conceptual ideas and conceptual dreams, and you just have to be able to distinguish between what is a hobby and what is a passion and what you can actually turn into a business.—Emily Cavalier, Founder of Midnight Brunch
2. No matter what you do, you’ll make it through. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The thing they don’t tell you is that it nearly kills you.—Tyler Arnold, Founder of SimplySocial Inc.
3. I suggest doing your due diligence in regards to your market and target audience. Map out the steps it’ll take to get started and start knocking them out one by one. If you find yourself struggling to accomplish these items, or not knowing the next step, you need to find a business partner to help.—Kevin Lonergan, Co-founder of Buttendz
4. I wish I knew that working smarter, not harder, is essential to surviving as an entrepreneur. You can get by working hard in the corporate world, but you won’t last long in small business ownership without working smart.—Andrew Schrage, Partner and Editor-in-Chief of Money Crashers Personal Finance
5. Don’t let fear be the reason you don’t launch your new business. When have you ever felt fully ready to do anything this important in your life? All you can do is prepare as much as humanly possible, know that you’ve done all you can for your baby to shine, and send it out into the world.—Megan Broussar, Founder of ProfessionGal
6. Remember all those stories you’ve heard of how the most successful entrepreneurs in the world made it to where they are now? Well, most of them started with different jobs or interests and amounts of money in the bank. The one thing they had in common is an unyielding commitment to doing whatever it was that needed to be done in order to make their dream a reality.—Danielle Mund, Life Coach
7. If you’re serious about building a great, enduring company, you have to be willing to sacrifice some things. A vacation in the first year is likely going to be one of those things, so take one before you start!—Ronnie Castro, Founder of Porch
8. If you are like me and follow many relevant business people, you often see tweets like “5 Things to Avoid When Starting Your Business” or similar posts. You may even read them. But here’s the thing: None of that matters. Every journey is different. No two things work exactly the same. You will make mistakes. Embrace the fact that you made the mistake, learn from it, move on, and never repeat it.—John Jackovin, Founder of Bawte
9. Be confident, don’t doubt yourself, and go for it. If you are sure there is an opportunity, you need to believe wholeheartedly in it—your team won’t be driven to succeed unless you are.—Kellee Khalil, Founder of Loverly

Do what you say you’ll do

It is essential that you match your words with your actions. Employers appreciate employees they can trust and depend on. If you tell your leader you can finish a project by a certain date, then you should take the necessary steps to finish the project accordingly. Relationships are essential to any business, and without trust, a relationship cannot be cultivated. Once you become accountable, you will notice that you attract those who you can also count on.

Many successful professionals have become successful because they ask important questions. You should maintain a curious disposition and ask questions. Asking questions will build your knowledge and contribute to your learning process and development. You may also consider asking questions about things that are not directly related to your job title if you think it could help you gain a better understanding of your organization as a whole.

Source:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-pieces-of-career-advice-that-will-get-you-to-the-top
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/career-advice
https://zety.com/blog/career-advice

What is Business Writing?

Any time you write an email or a pitch at work, a letter to your boss, or even a cover letter for a job application, it can be seen as business writing. Business writing should be clear, concise, and get the message across to the reader in a purposeful way. It’s an important skill to have because those who can communicate more effectively tend to be recognized for that at the workplace.

Types of Business Writing

Instructional

The purpose of instructional business writing is to — just as it sounds — provide instructions to the reader. It helps the reader learn how to complete a certain task. Now, the more complex this guide is, the more it would be considered technical writing. But you can think of this as writing a memo for your staff or colleagues at work.

Persuasive

Persuasive business writing has the job of convincing others to do something, or driving them to take action. It could be in the form of a press release, writing a business plan, or constructing an email blast asking for donations. Persuasive business writing usually comes in conjunction with sales and marketing.

Informational

Transactional

Why is Business Writing Important?

For one, the better you can communicate at work with others, the easier you’ll be to work with. At the same time, if your colleagues are good at business writing, it will make things move along much more efficiently, and you can feel purposeful at your job.

Being able to write for business is essential no matter what industry you’re in, and whether or not that industry relies heavily on writing. The next time you go to work, try to pay attention to how much business writing you do in a day. You may not even realize it!

The better and more experienced you get with business writing, the more you’ll be recognized for it as a prospective employee, current employee, or an employee due for a promotion!

How Do Business Write Offs Work?

Business write offs are included on annual income tax returns. Every business needs to file an annual income tax return. The exception to this is partnerships, who need to submit an information return.

For example, a sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business that is owned by one person. Sole proprietorships report their business income and claim write offs on Schedule C of their personal tax return. To properly categorize expenses, it’s a good idea to make expense categories in your accounting software.

It’s important to make sure you keep documentation of all your business expenses, small or large. Businesses can’t rely on entries in their bookkeeping software to prove actual costs. Even bank statements might not be sufficient.

You must keep all your receipts and records of the purchase, whether it’s physically or digitally. This will help you stay prepared should your business get audited by the IRS. If that happens, they might ask you to prove the deductions claimed on your tax return.

As well, you need to keep those detailed records for three years after you file your return. This can get extended to seven years if the IRS thinks you might not be reporting all your income.

What Expenses Can You Write Off for Your Small Business?

Understanding what expenses you can and can’t claim or write off for your small business is important. It can help you decrease the amount of income tax that you owe or even increase your refund. Here are some of the most important small business write offs.

Advertising and Promotion

Business Meals

Make sure that you’re keeping the necessary documentation that includes how much each expense is. As well as the place and the date the meal happened and the business relationship you have with the person you’re with. The easiest way to do this is to write down the details on the back of your receipt.

Business Insurance

Bank Fees

If you get charged annual or monthly service charges, transfer fees or overdraft fees for your bank or credit card, they might be deductible. You might be able to deduct transaction fees or merchant fees that you pay to third-party payment processors. Which could include platforms like Stripe or PayPal.

Business Use of Your Car

If you need to use your personal vehicle for business purposes then you can deduct certain costs of operating your vehicle. Make sure that if you use it for both business and personal reasons to only deduct the actual business-related usage.

Both methods require you to keep accurate records and logs of your business mule. You can use an app to help track and monitor your trips or update your mileage to be more efficient. Make sure to clearly document things like the total miles driven, the time and place and the purpose of your trip.

Contract Labor

You might need to hire a freelancer or independent contractor to do work for your business. If you do, you can deduct the cost of their fees as a business expense. That said, if you pay a contractor over $600 throughout the tax year you need to send them the Form 1099-NEC no later than January 31 of the next year.

Depreciation

Sometimes your business needs to purchase things like equipment, furniture or other assets. When that happens, depreciation rules make it so that you have to spread out the costs of those assets. This has to happen during the years they’re getting used instead of just deducting the whole cost at once.

Education

Some education costs can get fully deducted as long as they add value and increase your ability to do your work. The IRS will take a look at whether or not the expense maintains or improves your skills. Here are some of the common business education expenses.

Home Office Expenses

With the simplified method, where you deduct $5 per square foot of the area of your home that you use for business. And the standard method, where you track all your actual expenses.

Understanding Write-Offs

Businesses regularly use accounting write-offs to account for losses on assets related to various circumstances. As such, on the balance sheet, write-offs usually involve a debit to an expense account and a credit to the associated asset account. Each write-off scenario will differ, but usually, expenses will also be reported on the income statement, deducting from any revenues already reported.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) detail the accounting entries required for a write-off. The two most common business accounting methods for write-offs include the direct write-off method and the allowance method. The entries will usually vary depending on each individual scenario. Three of the most common scenarios for business write-offs include unpaid bank loans, unpaid receivables, and losses on stored inventory.

Bank loans

Financial institutions use write-off accounts when they have exhausted all methods of collection action. Write-offs may be tracked closely with an institution’s loan loss reserves, which is another type of non-cash account that manages expectations for losses on unpaid debts. Loan loss reserves work as a projection for unpaid debts, while write-offs are a final action.

Receivables

A business may need to take a write-off after determining a customer is not going to pay their bill. Generally, on the balance sheet, this will involve a debit to an unpaid receivables account as a liability and a credit to accounts receivable.

Inventory

There can be several reasons why a company may need to write off some of its inventory. Inventory can be lost, stolen, spoiled, or obsolete. On the balance sheet, writing off inventory generally involves an expense debit for the value of unusable inventory and a credit to inventory.

What Is a Tax Write-Off?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows individuals to claim a standard deduction on their income tax return and also itemize deductions if they exceed that level. Deductions reduce the adjusted gross income applied to a corresponding tax rate. Tax credits may also be referred to as a type of write-off because they are applied to taxes owed, lowering the overall tax bill directly. The IRS allows businesses to write off a broad range of expenses that comprehensively reduce taxable profits.

Businesses regularly use accounting write-offs to account for losses on assets related to various circumstances. As such, on the balance sheet, write-offs usually involve a debit to an expense account and a credit to the associated asset account. Each write-off scenario will differ, but usually, expenses will also be reported on the income statement, deducting from any revenues already reported. This leads to a lower profit and lower taxable income.

Resource:

https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/what-is-business-writing/
https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/accounting/business-write-offs
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/write-off.asp

Although some of the most profitable businesses are based online, others involve in-person services, and some are a great fit if you’re an entrepreneur on the go. Here’s our list of the most profitable small businesses:

The 23 Most Profitable Businesses in 2022

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here’s how we make money.

Some people venture into entrepreneurship with a clear vision: They know what industry they want to conquer and the path they’re going to take to get there. However, for many new entrepreneurs, it can be difficult to figure out how to start a business — plus, determine exactly what type of business is the best choice to invest in.

To help you launch your journey, we’ve compiled a list of the most profitable businesses, considering factors such as industry growth and competitiveness, startup costs and barriers to entry, as well as profitability potential.

Free Business Plan Template

Fill out this form to build your business plan today.

If you’re like Brian and you’ve already thought about a solution for a problem you encounter in your life — or you’re on the path to doing so — then starting a small business may be in your future. It may also be for you if you dream of clocking out of your nine-to-five job for the last time and becoming your own boss.

1. Handyman

Are you always fixing things around the house? Often on-call when friends need small projects completed? Create a website, conduct a competitive analysis to determine what your time and expertise are worth, and turn to the friends you’ve helped before for referrals.

A handyman business is a good idea if you’ve already built a robust set of skills to help others fix up their homes. Consider specializing in what you feel well-prepared to do — for instance, if you know your way underneath a sink and water system, then you might provide sink fixing services to start, then expand your offerings once you earn more skills.

No certifications are needed to become a handyman, and there are no special education requirements. You might need, however, a license if you’re planning to undertake jobs worth more than a certain dollar amount. Some states might not require this license.

2. Woodworker

Similarly, if you have a passion for crafting beautiful furniture or other home goods out of wood, that could be a small business niche for you. Get started by listing a few of your pieces on sites like Etsy. Once you build a following, consider starting a website, accepting custom orders, or expanding to refinishing work and upholstery.

A woodworker small business is ideal if you already have a passion for woodworking, as well as the tools to begin fulfilling orders as they begin to come in. Since delivering a well-made product is key to keeping your customers happy, you don’t want to be “training” as you create a custom shelf or a custom storage box. It’s recommended to have at least one year of experience as a woodworking apprentice.

To start a woodworking business, there are no special education requirements, but there are a wide range of woodworking training certifications online, so we suggest starting with a certification. The Woodwork Institute, YesTomorrow, and The School of Fine Woodworking are potential places to start.

3. Online Dating Consultant

Dating consultants usually charge for their time. They help people create successful online dating profiles, source possible matches from outside the typical online channels, and offer a level of personalization that a site like Tinder can’t. Think you’ve got a knack for the match? This might be the business for you.

Online dating consultants need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as heightened levels of empathy. The good news is that there are no special education or licensure requirements, though we recommend getting a certification such as IAP College’s relationship coach certification or Hart Academy’s online dating coach certificate.

To start an online dating consultant business, you’ll need a website that shares all about you and offers free dating resources your customers might benefit from. Once they download a resource, you can loop them in for a free consultation.

4. Sewing and Alteration Specialist

People will always need clothing hemmed and buttons mended — and you could be the person to do it. If you love sewing and have a sewing machine at home, start by offering simple services like those mentioned above and expand your repertoire to dressmaking and design as you build a customer base and demand.

You don’t need a special license or degree to begin a sewing and alterations business, but it’s essential to build your skills so you can take on more complicated projects. High-value clients will want to customize complicated items of clothing such as suits, pants, gowns, and dresses. That’s where you’ll see the highest potential for profits.

5. Freelance Developer

From building websites for other small businesses to providing technical support for certain projects, quality web development is in high demand right now. As a web developer, you’ll naturally have a technical skill set. Distill your knowledge and expertise so customers who don’t have your experience are able to understand what it is you’ll be helping them achieve.

To help with this, test your messaging on friends and family who don’t have a firm understanding of the work you do. If they’re able to summarize what you do, your messaging is likely effective among people outside of your industry. You can start finding your first freelance contracts by visiting different freelance websites.

Best Businesses to Start with Little Money

1. Translator

Speak a foreign language? Start a translation service. Consider specializing in a specific genre of translation, like medical or financial translation, as you might be able to fill a niche need in your community.

2. Garden Designer

Many people have the willingness to do the dirty work in their backyards, but few have the know-how to complete the first part of this process — designing and planning the backyard space. Draw up the designs for your clients’ outdoor spaces and let them do the actual digging.

3. Ecommerce Store Owner

Do you create, collect, or curate anything special? Consider starting an ecommerce store and turning your hobby into a full-time job. Whether you need somewhere to sell all that pottery you’ve been making, or an excuse to search for the sports memorabilia you love tracking down, an ecommerce store can make it financially viable for you to pursue your passion.

4. Travel Planner

The time of the travel agent might be passing, but people are still looking for those with a knack for more nontraditional travel coordination. If you always plan the perfect vacations complete with beautiful hotels, the ideal location, and a bevy of delicious restaurants lined up for every evening, consider advertising your services as a more modern approach to travel planning.

5. Home Inspector

Working as a home inspector requires certification and a great deal of expertise, but it can offer a flexible work schedule and stable income. Confirm the licensing requirements in your state before getting started with this type of small business. You’ll want to make sure you’re providing the best service to your clients by having all of your credentials in order.

6. House Cleaner

With a low barrier to entry, house cleaning can be a great way to start doing what you love — soon. Consider advertising to homes in your neighborhood and get more bang for your buck by earning a few small businesses as clients as well. They’ll usually bring in a higher paycheck for a similar amount of work.

7. Personal Chef

We all love to eat, but few of us have the time or energy to cook healthy, delicious meals. Advertise your services to local families and businesses alike. To save on start-up costs, consider scheduling certain groups of clients together — say, vegetarians — so you can cook larger quantities of the same dish.

8. Property Manager

Many people maintain properties they don’t live in — often based in different cities or states. As a property manager, you can help a property owner ensure their home is being well taken care of, handle small fixes as they arise, and serve as a liaison to renters.

9. Packing Services Facilitator

10. Massage Therapist

Soothe aching muscles and promote peace for your clients as a massage therapist. Look into training and certification courses in your city and state and invest in a portable bed to take on client visits.

11. Crafter

Creating novelties by hand is a fun and unique way to start a small business. Whether you make jewelry, knitted comfort items, or even custom wigs, there’s probably a market for your products. Tap into your audience with creative marketing on social media and optimize your website for the search engine using keywords that describe the products you make.

12. Interior Designer

Similar to landscape design — there are many people who have the ability to buy the furniture and home decor they need to fill their rooms, but few who know where to start. It might take some time to build a portfolio but documenting your projects and sharing them online can build a fanbase beyond your wildest dreams.

13. Nonprofit Owner

If you dream of devoting your life to a cause you believe in, it might be time to start a nonprofit. You’ll need to incorporate your business and file for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status — and then you’ll be required to meet ongoing standards of compliance, but the payoff is making a meaningful impact on a cause you believe in.

Sources:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/most-profitable-business
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/small-business-ideas
https://connecteam.com/how-to-start-small-business/

Events don’t have to be fancy and super organized; something as simple as an open house or an info session will work for locations like salons, fitness centers, yoga studios, spas, and retail stores.If your business is in a location with other local businesses, you can work together to have a sidewalk sale or outdoor open house to draw even larger crowds.

11 Ideas for Product Promotion

Promoting a product involves creative marketing strategies to increase sales by reaching a specific audience. Launching and promoting a product are both part of the process businesses complete to boost revenue and build brand loyalty. Understanding product promotion can help you learn marketing strategy to increase sales and grow brand awareness. In this article, we explain what products promotion means and offer tips and suggestions to help you successfully promote any product.

Products promotion is the process of marketing a new or featured item or service to consumers. It is a group of techniques used to bring attention to a brand and a specific product when it is first released into the market or once a company decides to feature this item after it’s been launched.

Promoting a product is any important way to drive sales and increase revenue to cover costs for initial research and development, manufacturing costs and product trials. However, a carefully planned promotional campaign can bring large profits once the product gains attention in the consumer marketplace.

The best ways to promote a new product or service

When it comes to promoting a new product or service for your business, it can seem like there are endless options. It can be difficult to figure out where to get started and which methods of promotion will give you the best results. The truth is, there are many low-cost ways to promote your business, and what works may depend on your industry, offerings, and audience. Take a look at these 12 methods below and see which ones make the most sense for your business.

1. Offer loyal customers an exclusive preview

Your loyal customers are a key part of how to promote your product, because they are most likely to not only buy it, but also promote it to their networks. This can take the form of a private, in-person or virtual pre-launch party, an online tour, preview, or demo. Or, it could even be a special invitation to test it out and give feedback. These exclusive offerings are not only a great customer engagement strategy, but they also reinforce how much you value them—and engagement and loyalty are essential for any successful growth marketing strategy.

2. Use a special introductory offer

3. Make use of Google My Business

If you’re just announcing the new product or service, you may want to go with a “What’s new” post. Just remember that Google My Business posts expire every seven days, so you’ll need to repost. On the other hand, if you’re running a special introductory deal, an “Offer” post would be best, as you can set a timeframe. Regardless of which post type you use, be sure to include a picture and a call to action to most effectively promote your business.

4. Run a social media contest

Social media contests are a fun, easy way of connecting with customers and bringing in more fans/followers and prospects for your business. Facebook contests garner an average of 34% new customers per campaign, which is a great way to combat the platform’s low organic reach.

Be sure to announce the content across all of your marketing channels, and not just the social platform you’re using to run the main campaign. This includes your other social media channels, your website, email newsletters, and even paid ads.

In addition to generating more excitement and buyers for your new offering, the increased engagement with your social media account will likely drive more traffic to your website, put your business in front of new customers, and create a fun means of connecting with your audience.

5. Spread the word via email

Did you know that 82% of consumers open emails from businesses, and that 76% of email subscribers have made purchases from an email marketing message? Email is a fantastic channel for getting the word out about your new product/service. Plus, it makes a great incentive to get subscriber signups in the first place.

You can run an email campaign specifically about this new offering—perhaps even as a series of emails building up to the day of launch. Or you may want to announce it as the focus piece of your next email newsletter. This email could go out to your general audience, or, in support of method #2, it could be a subscriber- or customer-exclusive offer.

What’s the best way to promote your new product or service?

The best way to promote your new product or service will depend on what channels your audience frequents and what their online behaviors are. Regardless, you should use multiple channels and cross-promote. The more cohesive and consistent your messaging is, and the more your audience learns about it, the more engagement you can expect. Try out the strategies above to get the results you want from your next product launch, software upgrade, or new service offering.

Meet The Author

Kristen McCormick

Kristen is the Senior Managing Editor at WordStream, where she helps businesses to make sense of their online marketing and advertising. She specializes in SEO and copywriting and finds life to be exponentially more delightful on a bicycle.

Conclusion

Having a solid plan on how to promote a product will help you determine how well your product sells when it’s launched. You can use one or any combination of the ways mentioned above to promote your product, and get sales. You can also use artificial intelligence tools for ecommerce to promote your product in a more personalized manner.

Q1. How can I promote my product online?

You can use a number of different ways to promote a product online. Some of the most common and easy ways to promote your product online are writing blogs, marketing on Facebook and Instagram, sending out emails to your subscribers list and many more that you’ll find above.

Q2. Where can I promote my product?

Q3. Where can I sell my new product?

You can sell your products on ecommerce platforms like Amazon, AliExpress and Etsy. You can also sell them on your business website or on social media platforms through Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shop.

Sources:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/products-promotion
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/07/29/how-to-promote-a-product
https://www.cloudways.com/blog/how-to-promote-a-product/
Product promotion

Though the mean order value, or average order value, is $24, the mode order value, or most commonly occurring order, is $15. The mode shows a much more accurate representation of your orders, because the mean is easily skewed by low or high purchases. When we think about raising the AOV, it’s more telling to look at the mode. That’s the number we want to increase.

Product Promotion (Explained With Diagram)

The purpose of promotion is to reach the desired consumers and persuade them to act. A company may have a well-designed product offering, with a price and distribution system appropriate to its target market. But if it is unable to reach that market, then all its efforts will have been in vain. Promotion is responsible for awakening and stimulating consumer demand for the product. Promotion, in its broadest marketing sense, encompasses all selling activities—advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations. The particular way an individual marketer combines these activities is called promotion mix.

To many customers, promotion and selling are synonymous with marketing. Promotion certainly represents a very large part of the marketing efforts of most firms, but it is, of course, only one part of marketing mix. Promotion is not limited to business activity, but is also used by a variety of non-profit organisations.

Of the four elements of marketing mix, promotion is the one used to the greatest degree by non-profit organisations. For instance, colleges use promotion to get students join, political candidates holding meetings (promotion) aim at winning votes, the government uses promotional technique for popularizing family planning programmes etc. Thus promotion is heavily relied upon by non-business organisations too.

Promotion activity ultimately comes under the direction of the marketing manager. In many large firms, however, each method of promotion mix operates independently. The marketing manager has the responsibility of coordinating and inter-relating all the methods to achieve the marketing objectives. Within the marketing frame-work, advertising, personal selling and sales promotion are termed as promotional mix.

A push promotional blend emphasizes personal selling. The producer pushes the product to intermediaries, who organize promotion to reach consumers and sell the product. Firms develop strong sales forces at both the distributor and dealer level. Products are pushed through the channel of distribution and dealer.

On the other hand, a pull promotional blend emphasizes on impersonal selling. Here it is the producer who organizes advertising and sales-promotion campaign. Pull strategies have proved to be very effective for difficult distribution cases. A firm adopting this strategy would spend more on advertising and sales promotion.

A PUSH STRATEGY call for using the sales force and trade promotion to push the product through the channels. The producer aggressively promotes the product to wholesalers; wholesalers aggressively promote the product to retailers and the retailers aggressively promote the product to consumers.

A PULL STRATEGY calls for spending a lot of money on advertising and consumer-promotion to build up consumer-demand. If the strategy is effective; consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask their wholesalers for the product and the wholesalers will ask the producers for the product.

Promotion may be informative, persuasive or reminiscent (reminder). Informative promotion is needed when a firm has distinctly new products for sale. For instance, when a firm that manufactures radio sets decides to produce television sets also, this fact must be known to the buyers i.e., informative promotion. Persuasive promotion is needed when a firm has a product, which is similar to other products.

Consumers are persuaded to purchase a particular product, which is better than others i.e., persuasive promotion. Reminiscent promotion is used after the products are well established in the market. Customers are frequently reminded of the product by the brand name, which is made a household name by repetitive advertisement.

Marketing professionals use the term promotional mix to refer to the combination of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and other forms of promotion. It becomes the promotional strategy. A combination of at least of two methods is essential for the promotion. Advertising is supported by personal selling or display. Personal selling will be expensive to make sales, when it is used alone. On the other hand a small expenditure on advertisement with personal selling will increase sales enormously.

For each component of promotional mix, management sets objectives, determines policies and formulates strategies. These promotional strategies are blended together to be known as “Promotional Blend.” This is blended with product-market, distribution and pricing strategies to become overall marketing strategies. There are many factors which influence promotional mix and they are known as product-market factors.

Different products require different promotional mixes. Consumer goods and industrial goods require different strategies. Consumer goods are sold through advertising, personal selling and displays. Raw materials require personal selling.

What Roles Do Marketing Promotion Strategies Play?

Create a way for your target audience to engage with your product/service. Place a call-to-action button on your website, emails, ads, social media profiles, or entice them with an irresistible offer. Get inspired by these sales promotion examples that work.

1. Drive More Traffic with Content Marketing

Let’s say you are a company that sells tires, and you start blogging about the importance of choosing the correct tires, when to change them, safety, and so on. This type of content will help you start building trust, making your brand a good candidate for their next tire purchase, which makes content marketing a precious indirect form of promotion strategy.

You might be surprised how important this matter is, but digital content marketing doesn’t resume at blogging. It’s everywhere. Online paid advertising or sponsored ads, websites, digital flipbooks , social platforms, and so on.

Of course, content marketing is more than just content. The process begins with creation (based on a solid digital content strategy) and is followed by promotion, measurement, and constant optimization. However, there’s a learning curve to it in which the secret ingredient is patience.

A prevalent yet powerful form of inbound marketing, blog posts help you promote internal and external content, include product or service information, or simply educate your audience regarding a topic from your niche.

Articles are the perfect way of increasing website ranking and boost your landing pages for free. You just have to do a bit of research before writing so you can incorporate SEO content marketing as well.

Some people are really good at multitasking, so they are able to workout while also stimulating the mind. The perfect way to serve them informational content in this scenario is to create a podcast for your business.

It can be a sign your brand should invest in a podcast, which allows you to be extremely creative and open to choices. For example, you can invite influencers to talk about a subject from your niche or explore a more extensive topic that you can break down into more episodes.

People often want to learn something fast and, if possible, in a more passive way. 96% of people watched an explainer video to find out more about a product or service. For these situations, it’s good to have informative videos prepared for your video content marketing.

Again, you can repurpose your written content into videos and save more time in the creative process. You can use video editing apps like Instasize to help you produce high-quality content straight from your smartphone — no professional experience needed. In your product marketing strategy, don’t forget to include video as well.

Don’t forget that content marketing is more than just creating content. Based on your overall marketing strategy, the process begins with creation, followed by promotion, measurement, and constant optimization. Without good SEO content marketing, your content may never be discovered.

One of the best promotion examples of a great content marketing strategy is H&M’s sales promotion strategy. Inside H&M is their way of offering customers valuable information about their collections and fashion trends from the industry focused on local culture.

2. Explore the Power of Social Media

Before starting, see where you should invest your social media marketing budget and what type of ads these platforms can host. Snapchat, for example, is associated with youngsters, while LinkedIn is a platform for professionals.

Take a look at Audi’s social media marketing strategy on social media. At first glance, you might call their Instagram page boring. But if you look closer, you’ll see that boring is not the right word. I’d instead call them persistent.

Their attitude towards social media is “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” They simply stick to what they know works for their audience. Their Instagram social media marketing strategy is pretty simple and catchy.

3. Use Email Marketing to Drive Engagement and Sales

• There are 3.9 billion daily email users, a number predicted to climb to 4.3 billion by 2023. ( Statista )
• Marketers who implemented segmented (personalized) email campaigns have witnessed a 760% increase in revenue. ( Campaign Monitor )
• On average, marketers send 3-5 emails per week. ( Not Another State of Marketing )
• Over the last 12 months, 78% of marketers observed an increase in email engagement. ( Not Another State of Marketing )
• 31% of B2B marketers recognized email newsletters as the best way to generate leads. ( Content Marketing Institute )
• 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. ( Content Marketing Institute )
• 87% of B2B marketers say email campaigns are one of their top choices for organic distribution channels. ( Content Marketing Institute )
• 90% of content marketers measure content performance according to email engagement. ( Content Marketing Institute )
• 46% of all emails are opened on mobile devices. ( Litmus.com )

FAQ on marketing a product

How do you market a product from scratch?

Ensure there is market demand for your product, start with paid marketing, introduce organic marketing such as SEO and content marketing through blog posts, videos, social media, podcasts, or emails, and convert more of the traffic on your website.

How do you attract customers to buy your product?

How to market a product effectively

About the author

A content writer and editor, Alexa Collins has shaped stories across topics from B2B SaaS to real estate. She’s best known for her love of plants, and when she’s not watering them she’s throwing the frisbee for her dog Bear.

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Sources:

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/product/product-promotion-explained-with-diagram/50904
https://www.creatopy.com/blog/marketing-promotion-strategies/amp/
https://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-market-a-product
Product promotion

People typically will not buy a product or support a not-for-profit organization until they know what it will do and how it may benefit them. Thus, an informative ad may stimulate interest in a product. Consumer watchdogs and social critics applaud the informative function of promotion because it helps consumers make more intelligent purchase decisions. StarKist , for instance, lets customers know that its tuna is caught in dolphin-safe nets.

What is sales promotion?

Primarily, sales promotions are used to motivate buying behavior or trigger an uptick in purchases in the short term, in order to reach a benchmark or goal. Although the immediate purpose of a sales promotion is an uptick in sales, there are plenty of other benefits to building out a strategic sales promotion technique with your marketing team.

The downside of sales promotions is that some businesses suffer from becoming overly dependent on them in an effort to boost sales. As a result, they enter a precarious short-term marketing cycle and struggle to plan for long-term goals and growth.

Further, if your competitors also run tons of sales promotions, the market itself may be negatively affected. Bidyut Bikash Das, former Demand Manager at OYO, notes that, “. when a number of competitors extensively use promotions to differentiate products or services, and other competitors copy the strategy, [it can result in] no differential advantage and a loss of profit margins to all.”

In addition, too many promotions can damage your business reputation because the offers no longer seem exclusive or valuable and clients begin to see your product or service as worth less than what you typically sell it for.

Overall, sales promotions are a powerful tool to rapidly inject sales, attention and demand into your business. To ensure they remain effective, they should be used strategically and with a specific goal in mind.

In the short-term, sales promotions can help you attract new leads or customers. However, this should also be seen as one piece in a long-term strategy, since you’ll need to continue to nurture these leads to move them along the sales pipeline or turn them into loyal customers that don’t churn.

Or, if you’re selling a digital template at a reduced price, people may share it with others who could benefit from the discount as well. In this way, sales promotions are a great way to attract qualified leads for your sales team.

For example, pairing the announcement of your new SaaS feature with a limited-time discount might be enough to turn long-time lurking leads into paying customers. Alternatively, if you’re revealing a new product, you could share an introductory price that will expire after the first “X” number of purchases.

Sales promotions are an efficient way to clear out extra inventory at the end of a sales period. If there’s a particular product taking up too much space, going out of production or becoming redundant, retailers can run a sales promotion such as ‘buy one get one free’ to help clear it out. You’ve probably seen this kind of promotion in stores marketed as the acronym: BOGO.

Sales promotions work to generate valuable insights into what your customers desire, how they make purchasing decisions and what kinds of promotions they value the most—useful information for both your sales and marketing teams.

When designing your sales promotion campaign, you’ll need to conduct research into your customers’ interests, as well as what your competitors offer. Taking time to do this research can help you and your team learn how to attract new clients, improve customer service and create compelling offers that resonate with your target audience. Just imagine, you wouldn’t want to run a campaign for 15% off the same week when your competitor is running a promo for 20% off.

A great sales promotion idea could focus specifically on repeat customers. Encouraging repeat business is easier and more cost-effective than attracting new clients. In fact, a 5% increase in customer retention generates more than a 25% increase in profit, on average.

By providing existing customers with exclusive incentives, you can increase loyalty, generate repeat purchases and hopefully draw high-quality referrals. You can also attract long-term and repeat customers. This practice is a good one for any sales pipeline, as repeat clients move through the funnel quickly, since they already know what to expect.

Similar to selling out extra inventory, if your business is seasonal or has slower periods, well-timed sales promotions can help inject purchases and galvanize interest during a time where sales are often slow or stagnant.

Email is a great vehicle for this communication, as research shows that 49% of people would like to receive weekly email blast campaigns from their favorite brands. By segmenting your list, you can ensure that you’re sending them only the most relevant offers.

The Promotional Mix

The combination of traditional advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, social media, and e-commerce used to promote a product is called the promotional mix . Each firm creates a unique promotional mix for each product. But the goal is always to deliver the firm’s message efficiently and effectively to the target audience. These are the elements of the promotional mix:

• Traditional advertising: Any paid form of nonpersonal promotion by an identified sponsor that is delivered through traditional media channels.
• Personal selling: A face-to-face presentation to a prospective buyer.
• Sales promotion: Marketing activities (other than personal selling, traditional advertising, public relations, social media, and e-commerce) that stimulate consumer buying, including coupons and samples, displays, shows and exhibitions, demonstrations, and other types of selling efforts.
• Public relations: The linking of organizational goals with key aspects of the public interest and the development of programs designed to earn public understanding and acceptance. Public relations can include lobbying, publicity, special events, internal publications, and media such as a company’s internal television channel.
• Social media: The use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and various blogs to generate “buzz” about a product or company. The skills and knowledge needed to generate information as well as to defend the company against problems (such as incriminating videos “going viral”) are separate skills from those related to traditional advertising. Even promotional strategies such as paying celebrities to wear a specific line of clothing and posting these images on Twitter or Instagram (a form of advertising) requires different types of planning and expertise than traditional advertising.
• E-commerce: The use of a company’s website to generate sales through online ordering, information, interactive components such as games, and other elements of the website. Website development is mandatory is today’s business world. Understanding how to develop and utilize a website to generate sales is imperative for any marketer.

Ideally, marketing communications from each promotional-mix element (personal selling, traditional advertising, sales promotion, public relations, social media, and e-commerce) should be integrated. That is, the message reaching the consumer should be the same regardless of whether it comes from an advertisement, a salesperson in the field, a magazine article, a blog, a Facebook posting, or a coupon in a newspaper insert.

What Do the 4 Ps Mean in Marketing?

Place refers to where and how people buy your product. Some examples of places consumers can buy products and services include online via a web browser, through a smartphone app, retail locations, through trade shows or events, through marketplace channels like Amazon or Walmart, or through a sales professional.

Price refers to how much your product or service costs. How you price your product depends on your competitors, demand, cost to produce the product, and what consumers are willing to spend. Companies also need to consider their pricing models, including choosing between one-time purchases and subscription models.

Product refers to the product or services your business provides to your target audience. The product a company provides can vary significantly depending on the type of company and what they do. For example, McDonald’s provides consistent fast food, including hamburgers, french fries, and chicken products, whereas Salesforce provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation tools for businesses.

Promotion refers to specific and thoughtful advertising that reaches a company’s target market. A company might use an Instagram campaign, a PR campaign that showcases a product, or an email campaign to reach its audience at the right place and the right time.

Sources:

https://www.pipedrive.com/en/blog/sales-promotion
https://opentextbc.ca/businessopenstax/chapter/promotion-strategy/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps.asp

Newspapers vary in their capitalization style for headlines, from using initial caps for every word to using sentence case. Magazines do so also, but they are not necessarily consistent from one article to the next, because they may design a given article headline to resonate with the feature’s theme (military-style stencil lettering for an profile about a soldier) or tone (a whimsical font for a story about the circus).

Capitalization Rules

Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase. Experienced writers are stingy with capitals. It is best not to use them if there is any doubt.

The main function of capitals is to focus attention on particular elements within any group of people, places, or things. We can speak of a lake in the middle of the country, or we can be more specific and say Lake Michigan, which distinguishes it from every other lake on earth.

• Brand names
• Companies
• Days of the week and months of the year
• Governmental matters
  Congress (but congressional), the U.S. Constitution (but constitutional), the Electoral College, Department of Agriculture.Note: Many authorities do not capitalize federal or state unless it is part of the official title: State Water Resources Control Board, but state water board; Federal Communications Commission, but federal regulations.
• Historical episodes and eras
  the Inquisition, the American Revolutionary War, the Great Depression
• Holidays
• Institutions
  Oxford College, the Juilliard School of Music
• Manmade structures
  the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the Titanic
• Manmade territories
  Berlin, Montana, Cook County
• Natural and manmade landmarks
  Mount Everest, the Hoover Dam
• Nicknames and epithets
  Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson; Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat
• Organizations
  American Center for Law and Justice, Norwegian Ministry of the Environment
• Planets
  Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, but policies vary on capitalizing earth, and it is usually not capitalized unless it is being discussed specifically as a planet: We learned that Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.
• Races, nationalities, and tribes
  Eskimo, Navajo, East Indian, Caucasian, African American
• Religions and names of deities
  Note: Capitalize the Bible (but biblical). Do not capitalize heaven, hell, the devil, satanic.
• Special occasions
  the Olympic Games, the Cannes Film Festival
• Streets and roads

Rule 3. A thorny aspect of capitalization: where does it stop? When does the Iraq war become the Iraq War? Why is the legendary Hope Diamond not the Hope diamond? Everyone writes New York City, so why does the Associated Press Stylebook recommend New York state? There aren’t always easy formulas or logical explanations. Research with reference books and search engines is the best strategy.

In the case of brand names, companies are of little help, because they capitalize any word that applies to their merchandise. Domino’s Pizza or Domino’s pizza? Is it Ivory Soap or Ivory soap, a Hilton Hotel or a Hilton hotel? Most writers don’t capitalize common nouns that simply describe the products (pizza, soap, hotel), but it’s not always easy to determine where a brand name ends. There is Time magazine but also the New York Times Magazine. No one would argue with Coca-Cola or Pepsi Cola, but a case could be made for Royal Crown cola.

Examples:
The president will address Congress.
Chairman of the Board William Bly will preside at the conference.
The chairman of the board, William Bly, will preside.
The senators from Iowa and Ohio are expected to attend.
Also expected to attend are Senators Buzz James and Eddie Twain.
The governors, lieutenant governors, and attorneys general called for a special task force.
Governor Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins, and Attorney General Dalloway will attend.

Sometimes the line between title and occupation gets blurred. One example is general manager: is it a title or an occupation? Opinions differ. Same with professor: the Associated Press Stylebook considers professor a job description rather than a title, and recommends using lowercase even before the full name: professor Robert Ames.

However, these monikers are not capitalized when they are used with possessive nouns or pronouns; when preceded by articles such as a, an, or the; when they follow the personal name; or when they do not refer to a specific person.

Examples:
I found out that my mom is here.
Joe’s grandpa looks good.
He’s the father of her first child.
The James brothers were notorious robbers.
There’s not one mother I know who would allow that.

Download our capitalization rules guide

1. Always capitalize the first word as well as all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Let’s go back to that rule about major words that we referred to earlier. Though the word major may seem a little bit vague, this essentially refers to all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In addition, all major style guides indicate that the first word of the title should be capitalized regardless of the word’s role as a part of speech. So, yes, even if the first word of the title is not a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, or adverb, it must be capitalized.

Here, both Man and Sea are nouns, while Old is an adjective that modifies Man. Because they are nouns and adjectives, these words should be capitalized.

2. Articles, conjunctions, and prepositions should not be capitalized.

Though it is sometimes said that small words in a title do not require capitalization, let’s be a bit more specific. After all, many nouns and verbs are small (e.g., dog, go), but these words must still be capitalized. The small words we are referring to in this case essentially include articles, conjunctions, and prepositions, which should not be capitalized (again, unless they are the first word of a title). There are only three articles in the English language (a, an, and the), so pinpointing these words in a title should be a cinch. Conjunctions like and, nor, but, for, and or should also be written in lowercase.

Let’s break down this example from William Faulkner. Sound and Fury are nouns and must be capitalized. Though the is used twice in this title, only the first appearance of this article needs to be capitalized, because it is at the beginning of the title. Finally, and is a conjunction and should be written in lowercase.

Prepositions are a different story, as they can be tricky to identify. Prepositions link nouns or other phrases (the objects of the prepositions) to the rest of the sentence. Simple prepositions indicate temporal, spatial, or logical relationships between the object of the preposition and the rest of the sentence; these include above, below, after, around, outside, toward, through, into, etc. Participial prepositions are not linked to nouns and include terms like concerning, considering, regarding, and during. Neither simple prepositions nor participial prepositions should be capitalized in a title. Though some prepositions can be quite lengthy, they should still be written in lowercase. (There are some exceptions to this rule, but we’ll get to that a bit later.)

In this example, at is a preposition that adds spatial information to the sentence and should be written in lowercase. Bury (verb), My (possessive pronoun), Heart (noun), and Wounded Knee (proper noun) are all capitalized.

Okay, things get more complicated here. When prepositions function as adverbs, they should be capitalized. (Near and beneath can act as either prepositions or adverbs.) When does a preposition function as an adverb, you ask? A good way to determine this is to identify the part of speech of the term following the word that you are unsure about. If the word that follows is a noun, then the term you are unsure about is probably functioning as a preposition. If a noun does not follow the term, then the word is an adverb and should be capitalized.

3. Capitalize the first element in a hyphenated compound.

If a title contains a hyphenated compound, then the first element must always be capitalized. The other elements of the compound are generally capitalized, unless they are parts of speech that are not capitalized (articles, conjunctions, or prepositions).

Sources:

https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp
https://www.scribendi.com/advice/what_to_capitalize_in_a_title.en.html
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/rules-for-capitalization-in-titles/

Main Body: the in-between sections are your key chapters in which you will explore the topic further. If you are writing about yoga practice, for example, you will need to explain what yoga is, the benefits of yoga, how the reader can practice yoga and what are the different yoga styles etc.:

How to Create an Ebook In 8 Steps (2022 Beginner’s Guide)

Whichever you choose, make sure it resonates with your clients and potential customers. The main idea behind offering an ebook is to give value and solve a problem. The subscribers you gain are also great of course.

The title must be attention-grabbing, informative and should encompass the topic completely. Avoid using obscure metaphors or contrived wording. Readers must know what they are getting from your ebook before they download it.

What is an ebook?

An ebook is a type of marketing asset that delivers information in an electronic, long-form publication. Ebook is short for “electronic book” and uses either a computer, mobile device or ebook reader to display the content. Ebooks have multiple digital “pages” that people can navigate through, and they are often packaged as PDF documents so they can be shared easily between readers.

Free Ebook Templates – Download Now

What are the benefits of an ebook?

Are ebooks profitable?

They can be. Ebooks are high-volume, low-sales-price offers. This means you’ll need to sell a lot of them at a relatively low price point in order to compete in the market and turn a significant profit. Depending on your industry, ebooks can range from free to more than $100.

Before setting a price for your ebook, do some research. Determine who your audience is, what they’re willing to pay, and how many people within your target market might be willing to buy it. Then, determine the platforms you’ll sell your ebook through. Amazon? Apple Books? Your own website? You can research how much ebooks usually go for on these sites and incorporate this insight into your pricing strategy.

How is an ebook structured?

There’s no set rule for organizing your content into an ebook. It generally mimics the structure of a novel or textbook (depending on what it is you’re writing about). But, there are some aspects of an ebook you should be sure to adhere to.

Ebooks typically have a system of chapters and supporting images. Similar to a blog post, they also do well when further segmenting their text with subheaders that break down the discussion into specific sections. If you’re writing about professional sports, for example, and one of your chapters is about Major League Baseball (MLB) in the U.S., you might want to establish subchapters about the various teams belonging to the MLB.

Decide on the Ebook Format

PDF – PDF which stands for ‘Portable Document Format’ is the most well-known and accessible format for readers. It is available to almost all desktop or mobile devices and software and allows you to insert hyperlinks, interactive text, and visual content.

EPUB – EPUB, which stands for Electronic Publication is a collection of HTML files, that offer many different levels of formatting control and require certain skills (or app) to create. They are only accessible through special software programs like Apple iBooks or a web browser that supports this format. The two types of EPUBs are fixed layout and reflowable.

The fixed layout is similar to the PDF which supports hyperlinking and complex visual formatting that works on a layout of text that stays the same as the screen changes. Whereas reflowable EPUBs work like web pages that adapt to various mobile devices and tablets. However, they require greater XML/HTML knowledge for a more advanced visual formatting.

MOBI – the MOBI format by Mobipocket Reader software was purchased by Amazon in 2005 but then shut down in 2016. Even so, it still is a popular ebook format that is compatible with most ereaders – except the Nook. MOBI does not support audio or video.

IBA – The IBA format is the ebook format only for books that are written in Apple iBooks author app and it is not compatible with any other ereader. It supports video, sound, images and interactive media.

Which one(s) you choose though depends on the ebook creator software and the distribution channel you prefer to use. For example, Canva and Visme allow you to download your ebook in a PDF file, whereas InDesign allows you to export your document in an ePub format.

How long should eBooks be?

There is no perfect eBook word count or page length. It all depends on the audience and subject. Generally, as long as it completely covers the chosen topic and successfully educates readers, there is no reason to worry about the length. If you can write a reasonably short eBook that covers the details you need the better off you are. Be concise and to the point.

Get Your eBook Proofread

Next you want to have your eBook read by someone that is not afraid to give you constructive criticism. Ideally, this should be a competent editor or a qualified person in your field, someone who can give you honest feedback about your writing style and the execution of your ideas. Check out some of our proofreading tips.

Before you share your eBook use online proofreading tools like Grammarly to get rid of all the spelling and grammar mistakes. That way your proof-reader/editor can concentrate on whether the content solves the problems you are addressing and verifies that the thought process is logical with a consistent flow.

Step 3: Choose the Right Ebook Format

Until recently, PDFs were the preferred format for delivering ebooks , and they’re still pretty popular. That’s because they’re easy to create and worked well on any PC platform. Of course, not all PDFs work well on all devices. And when a PDF doesn’t resize or reflow correctly, then readers can have a pretty poor experience . That’s something you definitely want to avoid.

Amazon dominates the e-reader space which is why it’s important to offer the Kindle format. With the right tool (we’ll get to that in a minute) creating a Kindle ebook can be a one-click process, and even simpler than creating it via Amazon itself. So ideally, you’ll make your ebook available in the .MOBI format that’s compatible with Kindles .

Of course, there ARE other e-readers out there, and they don’t use the Kindle -compatible format. To make sure people using those e-readers can access your lead magnet ebook , you’ll need to supply the . EPUB format.

• PDF: The “PDF” extension stands for “Portable Document Format,” which is better tailored to eBooks that are intended to be read on a device (digital advertisers, you’ll want to note this one).

• EPUB: This file class stands for “Electronic Publication,” which is more versatile in eBook formats. By that I mean, EPUB eBooks can ‘reflow’ their content so that it can be tailored on various mobile devices and tablets. This is called agnostic layout, meaning that the size of the screen does not influence formatting. They are especially useful for viewing on smaller screens.

• MOBI: The MOBI format emerged from the Mobipocket Reader program that was acquired by Amazon in 2005 but was later shut down in 2016. However, the MOBI file extension is still a common eBook format with consistency across major e-readers. This format is minimal and supports bookmarks, notes, corrections, and JavaScript. Although this format has certain drawbacks, such as not allowing audio or video, it does support DRM, which prevents proprietary content from being reproduced for sale or accessed unlawfully.

• AZW: This is an eBook file form built for Kindle, an Amazon e-reader product. AZW files first rolled out to Kindle users in 2007; based on the MOBI file format that Amazon acquired in 2005. While AZW files are based on MOBI, they contain better compression than MOBI files and can be used on Amazon Kindle or a tablet with Kindle apps.

• ODF: It stands for “OpenDocument Format,” a file type specifically designed for OpenOffice, a series of open-source content development applications similar to Microsoft Office.

• IBA: This is the proprietary eBook format of the Apple iBooks Author app. IBA files also have the option to convert to the IBOOKS format so that they can be imported directly to devices like the iPad and exchanged directly with others. This format supports video, voice, pictures, and interactive functionality, but is only used for books published in iBooks authors. This is not consistent with other e-readers.

Choose Your Ebook Creation Software

The next important step is to choose your ebook creation software. Believe us, the software you choose makes a huge difference to how easy it is to create a content upgrade or lead magnet. Here are some of the features to look for.

Seamless Content Import

First, you’ll want to choose ebook design software that makes it easy for you to import the content you have or create. Ideally, you’ll be able to create an ebook from a Word document , from HTML or, to make ebook creation really quick, an URL .

Good Ebook Designs

Second, it’s also important to have good ebook designs that make your visitors want to sign up. Choose ebook design software with a wide range of ebook design templates that you can customize to meet your needs and match your branding.

Pro Tips for Using Designrr For Ebook Creation

Second, Designrr stores version history . This makes it easy to go back to a previous design if you really mess things up (though it’s so simple, we’re pretty sure you won’t.) To find this, go to your dashboard, and check out the project menu where it says restore.

Q. What is Designrr?

Designrr is an eBook software that imports existing content from various sources to create an eBook. It is easy to use and has over 100 professionally designed templates to choose from. Use the drag and drop editor to style your eBook and add elements like CTAs, images, and shapes. Download the finished eBook and share with your audience.

Q. Why Designrr is the best eBook software?

If you’re looking for a software to create your eBooks, Designrr is the best option due to its ability to import almost any content. You can import blog posts, podcasts, videos, and PDFs, or even combine sources to create your eBooks. Whether you are creating an eBook for lead generation or selling it on Amazon, Designrr simplifies the process for you.

References:

https://visme.co/blog/how-to-make-an-ebook/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-create-an-ebook-free-templates
https://www.learnworlds.com/how-to-create-an-ebook/
https://designrr.io/how-to-make-an-ebook-in-5-steps-without-breaking-a-sweat/

Gun control is a hot topic in the United States nowadays. This term that refers to the various policies and laws concerning guns has always triggered a fair number of debates. Some believe that guns should be made easily available since it helps people defend themselves from danger. Others, however, believe quite the opposite – that gun ownership only leads to the rise in violence.

This is why gun control essays are fairly common assignments. However, to write a proper one, you need to ensure that you follow the right steps.

Sections of a Gun Control Essay

When you are writing a gun control essay, you need to decide on one thing first: is your essay going to be persuasive, or do you simply want to create an analytical essay? Both of them have different approaches.

For example, with an analytical essay, you will have to come up with a general claim on the topic, and then come up with a balanced analysis. Persuasive essays, on the other hand, you will have to take a position (with or against) and support your opinion with well-researched information.

Generally, to successfully write a gun control essay, you might want to keep a certain structure:

1. Introduction

No essay should be missing its introduction, because that’s what every reader would be holding onto throughout the lecture. If your introduction was written properly, the reader will know exactly what they should look for in an essay – and what to expect in the text.

The introduction generally starts with a fact or statement concerning gun control. It should also contain a thesis statement, one that shares the purpose of the essay. If you are writing an argumentative essay, it will state your position on the issue of gun control. Generally, the introduction should not be any longer than 10% of your paper.

2. Body

The body of the text is where you actually analyze your topic on gun control. All of the information should be presented in a logical sequence so that the reader understands your point.

In the body of the essay, every paragraph should consist of a new idea. That idea should be presented, analyzed (or debated), after which you add proof to support your claims. Ideally, you may not want to add too many different ideas concerning gun control into one paragraph; if you feel the need to state something different, you should start a new paragraph – one with the same structure.

Ideally, every essay on gun control should have at least three arguments to support your claim. Make sure that each paragraph easily transitions into the next, so that the reader can follow your ideas easier. Generally speaking, the body of an essay should be around 80% of the entire essay.

3. Conclusion

An essay’s conclusion is the chance for you to summarize your ideas that you previously stated in the body of the essay. Most of the time, the conclusion will be a mirror of the conclusion, stating the idea – but in different words.

The length of the conclusion will depend on the length of your essay. With the average essay, a conclusion should be around 3-5 sentences long. However, if your essay is longer than two pages, the conclusion should also be longer. Ideally, the conclusion should be 10% of the length of the entire text.

The Importance of Proper Research

If you want to talk about such a sensitive topic, you don’t want to base it on “air”, so to speak. You need to be well-informed – and then write it in a way that your reader can follow and understand your point.

When it comes to gun control, it is likely that you won’t be lacking information – since there is a fair amount out there. In fact, there may be too much information for you to digest, which is why you need to be as selective as possible. And considering the information galore, you should take your time to find the right sources; you don’t need something that is irrelevant to your topic.

When researching a particular topic, you need to go to the roots – and all of it starts with the Second Amendment, in this case. Before looking for other resources to back up your essay, you have to become familiar with that document.

Similarly, you might want to ensure your resources are official. It is acceptable to quote websites as well – but only if the sources are reliable. Therefore, no random blog posts from random bloggers – but official journals that you know for a fact are true. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to bring out reliable facts.

Conclusion

Writing a gun control essay is not as difficult as it may seem. All you have to do is state your position about gun control, provide valid reasons on why you believe that – and construct an essay using those arguments.

Anyone may have different ideas regarding gun control; what’s important is that you bring proof to support any argument that you have. Thoughts like “I need someone to write my paper” can be put to life with websites such as Trust My Paper, which can help you in this regard.