The Difference Between Front-End Products and Back-End Products For Your Home Business

So you have a website, a landing page to capture your customers’ details and you are about to send them an offer of your product. Now what? Why do most of them not buy from you? What are you doing wrong? Questions like these are common with a home based business and when there is no answer available,thoughts of failure occurs.

This is where you will have to know the difference between a front-end product and a back-end product and what it can be worth to you and your prospects. There is a way where you can over sell a service and burn your list very quickly instead of building it. The fact that people have signed up to your website for free information, does not indicate that they will buy from you in the future.

That is why it is necessary to offer a product at the beginning of the sign up and then follow it up with numerous different ones. You have to remember to present all your list of customers with valuable information. Otherwise, you take the uniqueness away from your service and you become a familiar tune amongst those that will not buy!

Your front-end product is displayed straight after a person has signed up. They might not buy anything but at least it is there to be considered. This can help you cover the costs for paid advertising if used. An example will be if you have a daily budget of $50 set on getting exposure for your home business and you make 5 sales at $20. Now you have the privilege to cover your daily budget and make a profit of almost the same amount. Can you see what an asset this can be to you?

You can even put forward a discount or trial as they click away from that site. This way you can still at least cap the cost of the paid advertising and break even for the day. The important approach that you took was to continue building your list of prospects and selling your front-end product simultaneously. Even if you do not make a profit for that day, you still added a big number of potential buyers.

The back-end product is then offered afterwards through the use of e-mails. This is a proven formula for any home business that has a healthy number of customers. You can practise this method indefinitely and concentrate on always getting more people to join. Any offline business needs to grow on a daily basis and endeavor a better turn over each year. The same goes for your online business and that constant efforts to increase your followers will create great diversity.

Your home business will be very successful if you implement this method consistently and you will make money online daily. Once it becomes irregular, every minute of profits will be lost.

What’s the Difference Between: A Lawyer, Solicitor, Advocate, Barrister, Counselor, and an Attorney?

Have you ever wondered where all these somewhat confusing terms came from? Well the answer is they are all types of Lawyers originated from various legal systems. Some of the terms are from the English legal system, some are from Scotland and some from the American legal system.

An Attorney is somebody legally empowered to represent another person, or act on their behalf.

A Lawyer is somebody who can give legal advice and has been trained in the law.

Are Attorney and Lawyer are synonyms? Basically yes, but they are not necessarily Interchangeable terms, you cannot for instance say I give you the Power of a Lawyer, but you definitely might say I give you the power of Attorney…

Look again at the above definitions, does it now make any sense? Off course it does.

An attorney in fact is an agent who conducts business under authority that is controlled and limited by a written document called a letter, or power, of attorney granted by the principal. An attorney at law is an officer of a court of law authorized to represent the person employing him (the client) in legal proceedings.

A Solicitor– One that solicits, especially one that seeks trade or contributions. The chief law officer of a city, town, or government department but does not act as an advocate in court, as opposed to the Attorney who pleads in court. (English Law).

A Barrister(Called Advocate in Scotland) presents the case in court. Most senior and distinguished barristers are designated King’s (Queen’s) counsel.

A Counselor at law– In the past at least in some U.S states there was a distinction between the term A Counselor at Law who argued the case in court and an attorney who prepared the case but didn’t argue it.

Nowadays an attorney at law is authorized to exercise all the functions of a practicing lawyer. All of them must, however, like the ordinary attorney, be admitted to the bar. The term attorney is also used for county, state, and federal prosecuting officers, as county attorney, district attorney, and attorney general.

Lawyers, also called attorneys, act as both advocates and advisors in our society. As advocates, they represent one of the parties in criminal and civil trials by presenting evidence and arguing in court to support their client. As advisors, lawyers counsel their clients concerning their legal rights and obligations and suggest particular courses of action in business and personal matters. Although all lawyers are licensed to represent parties in court, some appear in court more frequently than others. Trial lawyers, who specialize in trial work, must be able to think quickly and speak with ease and authority. In addition, familiarity with courtroom rules and strategy is particularly important in trial work. Still, trial lawyers spend the majority of their time outside the courtroom, conducting research, interviewing clients and witnesses, and handling other details in preparation for trial.

Lawyers types:

The legal system affects nearly every aspect of our society, from buying a home to crossing the street. Lawyers hold positions of great responsibility and are obligated to adhere to a strict code of ethics.

The more detailed aspects of a lawyer’s job depend upon his or her field of specialization and position. Although all lawyers are licensed to represent parties in court, some appear in court more frequently than others.

Lawyers may specialize in a number of different areas, such as bankruptcy, probate, international, or elder law. Those specializing in environmental law, for example, may represent public-interest groups, waste disposal companies, or construction firms in their dealings with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other Federal and State agencies. These lawyers help clients prepare and file for licenses and applications for approval before certain activities may occur. In addition, they represent clients’ interests in administrative adjudications.

Some lawyers concentrate in the growing field of intellectual property, helping to protect clients’ claims to copyrights, artwork under contract, product designs, and computer programs. Still other lawyers advise insurance companies about the legality of insurance transactions, writing insurance policies to conform with the law and to protect companies from unwarranted claims.

Most lawyers are found in private practice, where they concentrate on criminal or civil law. In criminal law, lawyers represent individuals who have been charged with crimes and argue their cases in courts of law. Attorneys dealing with civil law assist clients with litigation, wills, trusts, contracts, mortgages, titles, and leases. Other lawyers handle only public-interest cases–civil or criminal–which may have an impact extending well beyond the individual client.

These issues might involve patents, government regulations, and contracts with other companies, property interests, or collective-bargaining agreements with unions.

Other lawyers work for legal-aid societies–private, nonprofit organizations established to serve disadvantaged people. These lawyers generally handle civil, rather than criminal, cases. A relatively small number of trained attorneys work in law schools.

The real life situations have created “specialties” according to business profitability. This is how terms like Vioxx Lawyer, DUI Lawyer, Lemon Law Lawyer , Structured Settlements Lawyer and others came about.

Additional Information:

www.Lawyers-Best-Infoweb.com

Business Requirements – What Is The Difference Between Good And Bad?

What is a ‘Good’ Requirement?

Many customers have asked us to give them examples of ‘good’ business requirements. Some of the braver have even asked for ‘bad’ requirements for comparison. Presumably the bravest by far are those who have presented us with samples of their requirements and requested an evaluation of the ‘quality’ of the requirements. After much hair pulling, brain thrashing, and pouring ashes on our heads, we have decided to approach this topic head-on (don’t even get me started with that ad!). Since the topic is, however rather humongous (i.e., too big to consider in a single article), we have decided to break it down.

‘Good’, Albeit Young and Immature Requirements

First off, we need to point out that the ‘goodness’ of a business requirement depends on where it is in its evolution. For convenience’s sake, we divide the requirements determination process into three major stages, ‘Capturing’, ‘Clarifying’, and ‘Confirming’.

Our basic philosophy is that business requirements may exist in the wilds of corporate America, we don’t know for sure. The reason we don’t know is that we can’t tell whether something is a requirement or not until we have captured them. What we as business analysts (a.k.a. those responsible for capturing business requirements) need to do first is plan the hunt. We need to study requirements in their natural habitat to try to learn as much about them as we can. Anything we can learn about their habits, their behaviors and their preferences will aid us in the upcoming hunt to ensure that we can snare as many of them as possible in the time allotted. ‘Capturing’ it is all about getting the requirement any which way you can – through interviewing, observation, analysis, blue-skying, brainstorming, brainwashing, butt-kicking, or whatever-works-for-you.

In this formative stage of its life, a ‘good’ requirement is a statement that:

  • starts with the words ‘I (or We, or Our Department, or My people, or a specific role) need (or don’t need or want or don’t want or should or should not or will or will not)’ OR it defines some dimension of a specific component of the future solution;
  • names a single component/feature/behavior/state that whoever has the authority in the business community to make the decision decides is an outcome of the project worth funding;
  • focuses on the business outcome, not the technology to be used; and
  • can be traced back to the individual with the authority to ‘own’ and ‘fund’ this requirement.

A Couple of Fine (IONSHO – in our not-so-humble opinion) Examples:

  1. Sales needs to be able to see which contracts will be expiring within the upcoming 90 days.
  2. I want the system to automatically calculate sales taxes based on relevant sales tax laws.
  3. The website visitor won’t need to click more than once to get to the order page from any other page on the site.
  4. We need to be able to respond to a code red incident anywhere on the planet within 24 hours.
  5. The sales tax will be localized by the zip code of the ship-to address.

On Clarifying Requirements

Requirements clarification is really all about making sure that more than one person (i.e., the author) fully understands what the requirement means. Requirements are, after all, a means of communication, so unless both the creator and the reader of the requirement agree on what it actually means, it can not call itself a clear requirement.

Just as a good for instance, let’s take the first requirement from the set above:

“Sales needs to be able to see which contracts will be expiring within the upcoming 90 days.”

Makes perfect sense to me, after all, I wrote it. What does it mean to the developers (whether they are sitting in a third world country or a cube next to me, whether or not they speak English as their native tongue, and whether or not they share a cultural background with me)? What kinds of questions could those developers have?

An Exercise in Clarity

As an exercise in your analytic abilities, you might at this point want to take two minutes to see how many questions you can think of that you would like answered to make sure that you understand my intent and not just your interpretation of my words. Whether you write them down or not, count them. In this case, quantity counts.

All right, here is my two-minute list:

  1. Who or what are “Sales”? What can they do? What will they do with whatever I give them?
  2. What does “to see” mean? Do they need the physical contracts or just a list?
  3. What constitutes a contract?
  4. What makes a contract “expire” and why do they care?
  5. Upcoming 90 days? Starting from when? Does this view change day-by-day or weekly or monthly or hourly or what?
  6. Come to think of it, what constitutes a day in this context, 24 hours (a day in a single location) or the global day (and is that 47 hours or how does that work, anyway)?

OK, those are the first 6 (or however many you want to count) questions that hit my feeble mind, but remember, I am the author! You can probably do much better because you look at the world from your perspective. All of this indicates that, although the requirement was clear to me when I wrote it, it may just have some subjectivity that needs to be resolved lest it lead us to develop the wrong solution.

When Does It Ever Stop?

Let’s consider what we just did. We took one sentence and created a bunch of questions that will lead to who knows how many more sentences, each of which will consist of terms that need clarification. Sounds like a classic example of analysis paralysis to me. How does it end, when do we finally know enough to stop dithering around and start developing the solution?

Great question! Actually, quite possibly THE question for business analysts everywhere. The most expensive answer is, of course, to build the solution and then see whether or not you understood the requirements correctly (which could have a negative impact on your chances for a career in business analysis).

The best answer our industry has come up with to date is the old Chinese quote, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. In other words, draw a diagram or create a prototype of what you think works and test your understanding of it. If you and your counterparts (Subject Matter Experts, a.k.a. SMEs on the one side and the developers on the other) are versed in modeling techniques, a good exercise is to have each side draw a quick diagram (process model, data model, swimlane diagram, whatever) of what they understand the requirement to mean and then compare models. Models are, however, not the only method available to you.

Why Do We Not Clarify?

“Why do many of us skip the clarification process”, you ask? (At least, I think that’s what I heard you say in my head.) For starters, many people don’t like to ask questions for fear of appearing ignorant. (That’s my line — questions don’t show ignorance, they show interest!). Secondly, figuring out what to ask is hard work. (Of course, not as hard as being President, but still.) Even though a question shows interest, some questions at least SOUND stupid, so how can you be sure that YOUR questions are not the stupid kind? O.K., how many of you picked up on the preposterous use of parenthesis in this paragraph to “clarify” what was meant? Did it clarify or confuse? Ahhh, the conundrums we create by craving clarity.

This thinking and that pesky deadline that is looming lead you down the rosy path of, “Well, the subject matter expert must mean this, since that is the only thing that makes sense to me”; and another promising project goes kerplunk. There is a better way, there has to be.

The Decomposition Dilemma

Decomposing requirements statements probably has as many different definitions as there are letters in the name of the technique, but our take on it is the simplest (really, it is, trust me). All you need to think about are two things.

People and systems both do things. In our parlance, we call these things functions, activities, or processes. In doing things, both people and systems consume resources (such as data) and they create new resources (including new data). The primary purpose of information technology is to help us do things cheaper, better, faster and remember what we did by keeping track of the related data. Well, since requirements are supposed to define a future information technology, maybe we should just focus what the system will DO and what it has to KNOW for starters to see where it leads us.

Functional and Informational Components

In its simple form, decomposing a requirement statement consists of asking three questions, starting with “What does the requirement state or imply that the system (or a person) will need to DO?” Since doing anything requires some form of action, we are looking for answers in the form of verbs and objects (i.e., “calculate sales tax”, “deposit check”). Since the verbs indicate the action, the objects are typically data (or something that we need to have data about).

Once we have a list of all of the things that the system or the users need to DO, the second question for each item on the list is, “What data does the system have to KNOW in order to do that?” Since data is a thing, now we are looking for nouns or noun phrases (i.e., “sales tax”, “amount due”, issuing bank”).

The third question is “Where does that data come from?” and the answer here can only be another function or somewhere outside the system (i.e., the bank, the customer, the IRS – sorry bout that last one, but it is a valid source as well as a pain in the anatomy)

And So It Goes

O.K., you started out with a simple sentence that defined a future feature, state, or behavior of a component of the business system and now you have a couple of long lists of things the system has to do and things it has to know. The only significant question left standing is whether you know enough about each item on the list to communicate to the developers or assemblers of the solution. It might even be a good idea if you also knew how to recognize if these things are there and work the way you want them to once the solution is delivered.

Is everything clearer now?

Confirming before Coding

Confirming business requirements is really about making sure that the business community and the technical community understand the same thing under the requirements. It is also about ensuring that they both agree on relative priorities within the set of requirements so those requirements that are most important to the business community will be addressed first. Prioritization is not something that can be done unless it matters, so we are not going to delve here into the intricacies of this critical step at this time. Suffice it to say that unless your business requirements are confirmed and prioritized, they are not ready for prime time which, in our philosophy, means “Ready to be Managed”. In the end, the manageability, maintainability, and feasibility of your business requirements is what makes the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ business requirements.

May the best requirement win.

Online Copywriter Vs Offline Copywriter – What’s the Difference?

Being an online copywriter is becoming a much more lucrative profession as more and more Internet business ventures pop up all over the web. Everyone has something they want to sell online, it would seem – and copywriters are the people with the skills to make things sell.

But is there really a big difference between copywriting for the web, and copywriting in the offline world? In some respects, yes. In many ways, successful online sales pages resemble successful offline sales letters. However, there are some important points to bear in mind when it comes to online copywriting that can have a big impact on the success of your copy.

The Way People Read Online

One of the biggest issues a copywriter must consider when writing for the online space is that the way people read words on a computer screen is completely different from the way they read a printed page.

Computer screens tend to cause a strain on the eyes if you read from them for too long. For that reason, people naturally start to skim and scan when they read copy on the web. Add to that the fact that web surfers in general are an impatient breed, looking for the information they need right now. When you understand these factors, you can see why online sales copy needs to lend itself to skimming and scanning.

This means having plenty of headlines through the sales copy is particularly important. Ideally, a reader should be able to scan through the page reading only the headlines, and pick up a good idea of what the whole page is about.

As for the body copy itself, short sentences tend to work best online. The language ought to be as simple as possible, so anyone can read and understand it. No one is going to get out a dictionary to understand your sales copy.

Another factor of making sales copy easy to read online is breaking up the writing into short paragraphs. It’s not uncommon to see sales page with a bunch of one-sentence paragraphs. The ellipsis (…) is also a common feature of online copywriting, because it helps draw the reader’s attention towards the next line and create a sense of anticipation and suspense.

Creating PPC Friendly Landing Pages

One of the methods typically used to drive traffic to an online sales page is PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, using a network such as Google AdWords. If you’re going to be using PPC as part of your plan to drive traffic to your product page, you need to ensure your site copy lines up well with your ad copy.

There are several reasons for this. One is that the relevance of your web page to the keywords you bid on can affect the price you pay per click. But the other is simply your conversion rate. If your ads aren’t in sync with the copy on your sales page, you’re not likely to get the conversion rates you could potentially get if your PPC campaign and your sales page copy were working in harmony.

Search Engine Optimization

Another major method of traffic generation to a sales page is search engine optimization (SEO). This involves optimizing your sales copy for particular keywords, so that your page will show up in organic search results (as opposed to paid results) at the major search engines like Google, Yahoo! And Bing.

A good online copywriter will know how to approach optimizing your sales page, is SEO is a big part of your traffic building plan.

To get a marketing experienced copywriter to handle writing or rewriting your sales page, simply visit Premium Online Writing and hire an online copywriter.

Technical Writing – The Difference Between a Flyer and a Brochure

These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but it’s pretty well established in the tech writing business that there’s a difference. It’s not that one is better than the other, but, generally speaking, they have different uses.

Flyer (also leaflet and handbill)

A flyer is a single sheet of paper, usually 8 1/2 x 11 (A4), used to get information to a large number of people inexpensively. Flyers are popular for small scale advertising.

They’re often, quite literally, throw-aways because they’re handed out at random or posted in public places in the hope they’ll be read. If they’re intended to be posted, such as on a bulletin board or put up in a window, they’re printed on one side only. If they’re going to be hand held or mailed, they can be printed on both sides.

The purpose of a flyer is to provide a limited amount of information for a limited time at relatively low production costs. Some common uses are:

  • announcements of social or commercial events
  • product information such as a spec sheet left in new cars
  • fact sheets distributed at a press conference

While desktop publishing has made it easy for non-professionals to produce quite sophisticated flyers, many businesses rely on professional writers and graphic artists for the copy and layout of business flyers.

There is some disagreement on whether a flyer and a flier are the same thing. The preferred usage in Standard Written English is that a flier is someone or something that flies.

Brochure (also pamphlet)

Brochures are normally more sophisticated than flyers and more expensive to produce. As much time, effort, and expense can go into producing a quality brochure as producing a short video. Businesses produce millions of brochures every year, and a skilled brochure writer is well paid.

Brochures are used as sales or information resources that may be retained and read a number of times by a specific audience. They’re commonly displayed in racks at airports, hotels, and doctors’ offices, but as random as this seems, it’s expected that only the people interested in the subject of the brochure will take one.

They’re not intended to be throw-aways. They’re widely used as follow-ups to initial sales contacts and as supplementary information sources. An insurance company, for example, might use one brochure as a sell-piece and later mail a different brochure to provide details of its policies to a person who has indicated interest.

There is no limit to the size or shape of a brochure, but the most common format is a single sheet of paper folded once – to create four panels – or twice – to create six panels. The first format is most often called one-fold or bi-fold. The second one is usually called tri-fold or tri-panel.

Rio Summit Must Make a Difference for Clean Energy

World leaders have debated the merits of sustainable development and a green economy at Rio + 20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.

Protesters have used the event to highlight injustice.

And something substantive benefiting the environment may actually get done. This year’s theme is after all “a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication and the institutional framework for sustainable development.”

However, listening to current U.S. political discourse makes me wonder if anybody in government seriously considers steering toward a green economy.

Wall street bankers, brokers and speculators remain so fixated on profits and bizarre anti-populist goals like killing Dodd-Frank, the already weak-kneed consumer protection act, that real values get swept away like last quarter’s balance sheet. The concepts of quality of life, a better place for children and continued proliferation of the American way — where everyone has a chance to make it big — get nothing but lip service.

A trillion reasons

Robert Redford put it succinctly in a piece on Huffington Post: “We can do better,” he writes. His point is that with so much at stake, we need to shift some emphasis to clean energy and eliminate the near “one trillion dollars of subsidies… handed out to help the fossil fuel industry” each year.

Here’s author and activist Bill McKibben’s take, from an email he sent to the 350.org network: “We know that world leaders aren’t likely to achieve a comprehensive climate breakthrough in Rio.” But he says stopping subsidizing the fossil fuel industry would “give renewable energy a fighting chance.”

The buzzword now is jobs. The issue is so important people are ready to jump at anything, even a silly pipeline project that taps perhaps the most planet-cooking reserves Earth has to offer.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

Redford says, and he’s backed up by numerous studies, that every federal or state dollar invested in clean energy gives multiple times the return of fossil fuels. Truly, that’s the kind of job that makes sense. Here in California’s San Joaquin Valley, we’re trying to prepare a ready work force. A consortium of community colleges has banded together to prepare curriculum that meets industry’s specifications and enables a green energy renaissance.

Then intent is to create living-wage jobs, rather than positions that perpetuate and exacerbate extreme economic divisions. The middle class is no longer bullet-proof. Incomes are declining.

So how does a green economy fit in? Not easily apparently. If it were up to me, I’d say, “Make the United States energy self-sufficient in 10 years, emphasizing sustainability.”

That’s not to say we should completely shed oil. The stuff has been quite good to us. Let’s just give a shot to making the world a better place, allowing American ingenuity fill in the blanks.

Taking up the challenge

Former Great Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair and a group of international statesmen and business leaders have penned an open letter advocating for a “clean revolution,” which they say is essential to “save our economies from the crippling costs of runaway climate change, and create meaningful jobs and enhance energy security.”

The group backs a campaign by business and government that calls for a “green growth” push out of global recession.

Topical, especially with nearly a half dozen countries in the European Union teetering on financial collapse. Greece elected the conservatives by a squeaky thin margin that allowed the markets a respite. But the future is anyone’s guess.

How’s the weather?

Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day Network, says there’s a chance the Rio + Summit will get results, but “the outlook is bleak.”

Normally, I love that pessimistic stuff. It nurtures the curmudgeonly spirit I gained from 24 years in newspapers, pounding out or editing stories about the best and worst in people.

But I’m hoping for more. The summit marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the country where my cousin Sarah has decided to raise her twins.

Rogers says the U.N. event two decades past generated real optimism and a climate change treaty that “charted a new course to sustainability.”

Love at first bite

Implementation is a completely different issue. All that optimism from the first Rio summit had the bite of my toothless and blind 14-year-old dachshund Spike. Oh, he still barks like crazy — as do those of us who believe in a sustainable future. But we need a pit bull.

Adding some fangs, or even some well-worn teeth, requires agreement and action. I do believe it wouldn’t take much. Many are willing to give it everything they’ve got to extract power from those green dilithium crystals.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative has lofty goals, calling for universal energy access, a doubling of energy efficiency and a doubling of renewable energy by 2030. But it’s got allies.

Nothing but wind

The European Wind Energy Association says 75 countries around the world have installed wind turbines and 21 have more than 1,000 megawatts generating energy. It says with the right policy support projections show that wind power will double capacity by 2015 and again by 2020.

“This can be achieved,” says Kandeh K. Yumkella, the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, in a statement.

After all, what choice do we have. Really?

What’s The Difference Between Grammer And Grammar?

There’s a big difference! Kelsey Grammer is an American actor. But other than Kelsey’s last name, “grammar” is not a word in the English language. You will not find it in any English Dictionary.

You may ask why should you care? Everyone will know what you mean whether you spell grammar with an “a” or an “e,” right? For some people that’s true. However, there are many reasons to spell correctly.

One big reason simply is, in business writing you need to use good spelling. Perhaps you are writing a cover letter in applying for a job. It may be the best cover letter you’ve ever written. It may make you the obvious first choice for the job. But if you don’t use correct spelling, you will appear, 1) as if you’re not very smart, and 2) as if you can’t present yourself in a proper manner through your writing. Using poor spelling in business communications will reflect poorly on you, and on your employer if your writing goes outside the company. And, can you think of a company that wants to look bad to its customers and potential customers? Good spelling always says something about the writer (the employee), and the company. Poor spelling does also.

Another reason to spell words correctly is because English is a tricky language. You can tell a “tale” (story) and a dog has a “tail”. You may “accept” (take) a gift, but your mother may say it’s okay to accept gifts from everyone “except” (but not) from strangers. If you spell words incorrectly, or use them in the wrong manner, you may change the whole meaning of your sentences and give readers incorrect information.

It is also possible that English is not the first language of your reader. English spelling is even more difficult for those who are learning English. And, it’s also very difficult if they read English that is not spelled correctly. Unlike those for whom English is native, people who are learning English as a second language may not understand misspelled words in sentences.

So what can you do to write better English? Writing tips can be found in many places and the first tip always is, be careful in your writing. Don’t write in a slapdash manner and expect your writing to be acceptable to everyone. If you want to be a good writer, then spell like a good writer.

Second, there are many tools available to help improve English writing. Spell checking is common on most computer word-processors for the correction of the writer’s spelling. And there are other language tools available that offer features beyond simple spell checkers, and which provide help in improving English grammar.

Lastly, there are other great tools available to help you write better English. These are English writing software programs that offer powerful features beyond simple spell checking. These not only identify and correct spelling and grammar mistakes, but also enhance text by distinguishing the proper use of words like “tail” and “tale” and “accept” and “except.” Most simple word-processors will not catch the subtle difference between words like these because, although each word is spelled correctly, they may not be used in a grammatically correct manner. A good writing software program has the power to recognize these differences, every time and make corrections. Such a program can become any writer’s best friend.

The Difference Between Formal and Informal Writing

When it comes to writing in English, there are two main styles of writing – formal and informal. Consider these two examples:

Example 1:

This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company as it was not up to the required standard. In case you would like us to reconsider it, we would suggest that you go over it and make some necessary changes.

Example 2:
You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They thought it was awful. But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I’m not gonna redo it the way they said I should.

The difference between the two is obvious. The first one is formal, and the second is informal. But what is it that makes them formal and informal?

It is the style of writing, or the way we use words to say what we want to say. Different situations call for different ways of putting words together. The way we write in academic and scientific settings differs greatly from the way we write to a friend or close one. The tone, vocabulary, and syntax, all change as the occasion changes. This difference in the styles of writing is the difference between formality and informality, or the difference between formal and informal writing.

Following is a list of some of the main differences between informal and formal writing:

Informal: May use colloquial words/expressions (kids, guy, awesome, a lot, etc.)

Formal: Avoid using colloquial words/expressions (substitute with children, man/boy, wonderful, many, etc.)

Informal: May use contractions (can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, etc.).

Formal: Avoid contractions (write out full words – cannot, will not, should not, etc.).

Informal: May use first, second, or third person.

Formal: Write in third person (except in business letters where first person may be used).

Informal: May use clichés (loads of, conspicuous by absence, etc.)

Formal: Avoid clichés (use many, was absent, etc.)

Informal: May address readers using second person pronouns (you, your, etc)

Formal: Avoid addressing readers using second person pronouns (use one, one’s, the reader, the reader’s, etc.)

Informal: May use abbreviated words (photo, TV, etc)

Formal: Avoid using abbreviated words (use full versions – like photograph, television, etc.)

Informal: May use imperative voice (e.g. Remember….)

Formal: Avoid imperative voice (use Please refer to…..)

Informal: May use active voice (e.g. We have notice that…..)

Formal: Use passive voice (e.g. It has been noticed that….)

Informal: May use short and simple sentences.

Formal: Longer and more complex sentences are preferred (short simple sentences reflects poorly on the writer)

Informal: Difficulty of subject may be acknowledged and empathy shown to the reader.

Formal: State your points confidently and offer your argument firm support.

These are just some of the differences between formal and informal writing. The main thing to remember is that both are correct, it is just a matter of tone and setting. Formal English is used mainly in academic writing and business communications, whereas Informal English is casual and is appropriate when communicating with friends and other close ones. Choose the style of writing keeping in mind what you are writing and to whom. But whichever style you write in – formal or informal – be sure to keep it consistent, do not mix the two.

The Real Difference Between Job Hunting and Job Search

Any active job seeker will find that these terms are used interchangeably in articles, blogs and other literature. There is in practice a fundamental and distinct difference.It is important to embark on both a structured and a more flexible approach to job hunting to secure a new role successfully.

In a recent study, a group of executives were studied prior to making a presentation. By observing these executives at an evening party, prior to making their presentations the following day, researchers were able to correctly predict the winning presentation, just by observing and listening to the way these executives. Their language, the way they talked and listened were all valuable clues about the level of the effective interaction and communication skills.

Job search can be defined as the systematic and structured process of searching for a new role, as a result of outplacement or the desire to change roles or careers. Common methods include job search engines, job boards, newspaper ads, recruiters and company web sites.

Job hunting is a more creative, unconventional and non-rational process by using a variety of effective methods to find new employment, but relying more on informal networks and unconventional approaches to find jobs in the hidden market.

Let me share with you one example in my own career of using job hunting effectively to secure good roles. Years ago I decided to immigrate to New Zealand and during my first holiday trip I was talking to my immigration agent. When I mentioned I had a strong interest in technology she suggested I meet with an IT company. After a couple of meetings the company created a new position and offered me this role, which I held for three years. It was never advertised and I was the only applicant. All it required from my side was effective sharing of my skills and connecting with the right company, using effective networking skills.

Since that role, I have also been appointed into two other roles that were never advertised:

(1) As part of my consulting practice I was doing a strategic assignment for a large recruitment company. After the assignment, they mentioned to me that one of their clients was looking for a new head of HR. After a meeting with the MD and another meeting with the Board, I was offered the role and worked seven years for this company.

(2) After being invited to complete a strategic consulting assignment with a listed company that took six months, they asked me to join their executive team. I was known the MD and Board, there was little due diligence required, and again the position was never advertised.

Let me close off with a good example of job hunting. If you have ever been to Africa, one of the things most people on a wildlife safari strive to do is to take pictures of the Big Five (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard). Finding these five animals on an African safari is no mean feat.

How would you go about making sure you get these five animals in your sights? Well, first of all you would want to go to a safari camp that have all these animals in their reserve. Then you would want to get a good tracker and game ranger to help you find these animals. You would need to bring with you a good camera and ensure you are in the right position to take your picture, so that months and years later you can still savour the memories of taking those perfect pictures.

As you embark on your job search, ensure you incorporate a bit of the primitive hunter in your job hunting, using your instinct and gut feel. In today’s competitive market, it is really survival of the fittest.

Difference Between An Application And A Mobile Website

If you want to establish a mobile presence for your organization or business, among the first considerations that will likely to remember is if you want to create a mobile application for users to download or perhaps a mobile website. These might look very similar at first, and knowing which is most suitable to your needs will greatly depend on different factors. These will include your budget, target audiences, required features, and intended purpose.

A Mobile Website Vs. An Application

It is very important for you to fully understand the key differences between a mobile website and an app. Both can be accessed on a handheld device like a tablet or a smartphone.

A mobile website is somewhat the same with any other website that has browser-based HTML pages linked together and can be accessed over the Internet. What differentiates it from a standard one is the fact that it is meant for the smaller handheld display along with those with touch-screen interfaces. It can indeed display text content, images, data, and video. Also, they can give access to mobile-specific features like click-to-call or location-based mapping.

Applications, on the contrary, are downloaded and installed on your mobile device instead of just being rendered in a browser. They may pull content and data from the Internet or the content may be downloaded so can get accessed to it even without an internet connection.

Which Is Better?

If you are deciding whether to build a mobile website or a native app, the right choice will greatly depend on your end goals. An app can be the best option to develop an interactive game. But if your main goal is to offer mobile-friendly content to the plenty of users, a mobile website is surely the best way to go. There are some cases where you might need to invest in both.

Experts highly emphasized that a mobile website must by your initial step when it comes to developing an excellent mobile web presence. On the other hand, an app is very useful for creating an application for a specific purpose which can’t be efficiently accomplished through a web browser.

The web vs. app question remains to be a very real consideration for businesses wanting to establish a mobile presence if mobile remains a new frontier. Weighing which of these two can greatly benefit your business is very crucial. This way, you are sure that you are making the right move to ensure the success of your business.

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