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Features Of An Effective Business Letter

Writing an effective business letter is an art. It is an acquired skill and depends on constant practice. Regular practice gives a flow to the style and brings a natural sense of expression. Features of an effective business letters are:

Scientific Expression

Scientific expression means something said directly and briefly. A good composition is essential for a business correspondence. To that end, a letter must be written clearly. Clarity in writing letters is of particular importance because many people have a lot of letters to deal with and they cannot waste their time trying to decipher the meaning of the composition. A letter written clearly in simple language conveys the meaning immediately to the reader.

Brevity is said to be the soul of the wit. Therefore, whatever you want to communicate, do so in brief and a forceful language. A letter written in brief and concise form contains only essential information. It must not be overweight with irrelevant and superfluous details. One must use as few words as possible but the composition must not be abrupt and vague. In the busy world of trade and commerce, people do not have much time in the midst of feverish activities. Thus, a wordy and circumlocutory letter irritates the reader rather than pleasing him/her.

Accuracy is important in a business letter; whatever you communicate in a letter must be accurate. The facts mentioned by you must be true and genuine. The writer must employ a suitable style and correct format. Rules of grammar and style must be followed. Correct construction of sentences and punctuation are essential in a business letter.

There must be proper paragraph divisions in a letter. Each distinct point must be expressed in a separate paragraph. For a new paragraph, both styles, ‘intended’ or ‘block’, are regarded correct at the present time. Some people begin the paragraphs at the left hand margin without leaving any space (indentation) and some of them think it proper to leave some space on the left-hand side.

Scientific expression prefers everything in a systematic and orderly way. A letter, therefore, must be drafted under the norms discussed above to bring effectiveness in communication.

Association of Ideas

The ideas and facts mentioned in the letter must be interlinked. It must be well-planned so that the reader is able to understand it easily. The writer must tackle various facts one by one. He must prepare a diagram in his mind and work upon it. Coherence in writing makes it interesting and affects the reader positively. Therefore, association of interconnection of ideas is a plus point in good business communication.

Politeness and optimism

Politeness and optimism are the passwords in the business world. Business correspondence must be conducted in a polite tone. Courtesy costs nothing but pays rich dividends. Politeness wins sympathy, respect and mutual understanding. Everybody likes to be addresses pleasantly, so it must be heeded. ‘Please’, ‘we appreciate’, ‘thanks’, ‘I am sorry’, ‘may we’, etc., are certain words that convey politeness or courtesy and these induce the reader to respond to the writer in a similar manner.

Effective Small Business Marketing – Down With Corporate Mumbo Jumbo

“Corporate speak” is everywhere. That doesn’t make it a good thing. By corporate speak I mean such cryptic statements as “we help you achieve optimum enterprise performance, maximize efficiency through the value chain and leverage proven practices and integrated solutions to accelerate your business.” Huh? This gobbledygook may make you sound smart, but do you want sound smart or be smart? Good marketing is clear. This stuff is anything but.

Many businesses fall prey to the siren song of corporate speak. It’s tempting for a few reasons. For one thing, it’s what they’re used to seeing. What a waste of valuable marketing space.

For another thing, it shows off their impressive vocabulary, which many misguided businesspeople think is a way to position them as experts. Well, maybe “We utilize proprietary methodology to precisely identify, quantify and create a hierarchy within specific business acceleration opportunities,” sounds impressive to some. But does it meet the company’s primary marketing objective, which is to attract new clients?

What if the site said this instead:

Using proven investigative methods, we will help you:

Identify processes that are draining your resources
Define the changes necessary to reduce the drain
Design an action plan that offers the greatest benefit in the shortest time
Reduce waste, improve efficiency and raise profits

This second formula works because it’s in simple language that everyone can understand quickly. It still sounds knowledgeable and professional, yet the bulleted layout is easy to understand. These are critical points in a world where you are competing for attention with not just your competitors, but a constant onslaught from incoming email, beeping Blackberries, ringing phones, 24-hour news sources droning in the background and endless opportunities for Internet surfing.

Here are few tips to help you clarify your message:

Junk the Jargon

Let your spouse or a friend who is not in your line of business read your marketing. If he or she can’t grasp it quickly, simplify the message. And remember that terms that you’re intimately familiar with will sound like a foreign language to many potential clients. Kaizen, Six Sigma, Hoshin Kanri, Lean. If you just can’t resist the urge to include these terms, at least define them for your less-informed clients. They may be the ones with the greatest need and the deepest pockets.

Away with Acronyms

PVM, CRM, KPI, 3PL…your clients shouldn’t need a secret decoder ring to understand who you are and what you do.

Wordiness Weakens

In marketing, less is always more. Be concise.

“As a corporate leader, it is imperative that you maintain constant contact with each member of your organization and maintain an open door policy to make your staff feel comfortable approaching you with questions, concerns and feedback to engender team spirit, enhance motivation and make everyone happier and more productive.”

Can be boiled down to this:

“Maintaining open communication within and between staff on all levels of your organization will improve motivation and productivity.”

Simple is not a dirty word. Deliver a clear, easy-to-understand message…and you will optimize the effectiveness of your marketing collateral and Web-based communications to maximize their impact on your target audience, which will pre-sell prospects and accelerate your ROI. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Offline Businesses – The Most Effective Online Marketing Uses Direct Marketing Strategies

Direct marketing in the offline world has grown to huge proportions, becoming a very professional industry in which the biggest players are immensely successful. And these same direct marketing strategies and techniques are the hallmark of the most successful Internet marketing businesses, etc. In fact, every direct marketing professional should consider Internet marketing as a career or at least a sideline for additional income streams.

Direct mail pieces in the offline business world become email blasts online – and with more and more email programs now HTML capable, can be just as glossy and heavily designed as their offline counterpart. And just as direct marketers buy targeted leads or use location-based mail drops, Internet marketing pros rent email lists, buy solo ads and buy leads.

Direct marketing techniques also include classified ads and TV infomercials – online there are a number of classified-ad sites, some international and many based on certain locals. And video sharing sites are perfect for displaying TV-style commercials, infomercials, product demonstrations, etc.

And the ‘golden lists’ or the big Direct Mail houses, those lists of targeted leads that buy from them regularly, are no different than the customer lists online. Just as direct marketers have a pre-written series of e-mails and offers that go out to their previous customers on a regular basis, so too do online marketers who use pre-written autoresponder series to follow up with each purchaser.

If you own and/or operate an offline business in direct marketing, learn all you can about the strategies, tools and techniques being used by successful Internet marketing pros and use that knowledge to increase bottom line profits considerably. While some online regulations, like the anti-spam laws, make parts a little trickier in compliance, it’s more than made up for by the low cost of email blasts, the lack of lead time required for printing, and the free video hosting the video sharing sites provide. Start by putting every commercial and infomercial in your current library online at sites like YouTube, Viddler and Daily Motion and you’re already well on your way.

And if you’re currently working in the direct marketing industry with no equity in the company that employs you, consider starting a part-time job in online marketing and building it into your own full-time Internet marketing or affiliate marketing business. You have the skills so start investigating this low-startup-costs online industry for your own future today!

Changing Your Career – How To Write An Effective Cover Letter

There are certain procedures to follow when searching for cover letter samples expressing one’s wish to change career. Career change cover letter samples should show exactly how the introductory letter should begin and what it should include.

At the top corner of most career change cover letter samples will have the potential employee’s address. In most cases, the name should be written on the first line, followed by the address beneath it. Include the city state and the zip code in the address and then add the current phone number. If there is an e-mail address, it can be written under the phone number and then follow it with the date.

It is common for career change cover letters to have the address and pertinent information of the probable employer. If one knows the name and designation of the person to whom the cover letter should be addressed, it is recommended to include it in the letter. Follow it with the company address, ensuring that it is situated at the left portion of the page.

The addresses of career change cover letters have the same style as any normal business letter. For the salutation, if the name of the addressee is known, write it down. However, if otherwise, “Dear Sir or Madam” can be used.

In the first paragraph of the letter, give an introduction and brief opening sentence. For example:

“This letter is to articulate my interest in (the job title) with your organization listed on (insert name) website.” (Put in significant details, position applying for and the newspaper or website where the job was seen.)

The next step is to express how suitable the applicant is for the job mentioned. Experience and relevance to the position applying for should be brought up clearly. One may write something like:

“I feel with my understanding in (specify the field) and my accomplishments in (name previous occupation) make me an ideal applicant for this position.”

The main component of a career change cover letter is its ability to list previous experiences. This gives additional advantage to the candidate. Being able to enumerate an applicant’s achievements in his previous job and the skills he was able to practice can increase the applicant’s attractiveness as an employee.

Write down key characteristics that are concerned with the job being targeted and then qualify straight away how previous experiences or trainings deal with each one. Create a bright picture in few words. Do not turn the letter into an essay. This letter should serve as an overview of the topic in positive terms. For instance:

“My experience in (jot down an experience) has helped me gain proficiency in many areas of the position mentioned. I consider (list down strengths) as my strengths.” (Then, provide examples of instances where these skills have been used successfully).

These qualities can be written in point format. Write only those strengths that will be advantageous to the job applied for.

Style every cover letter to suit the specific job and the organization one is applying for. Get some background information on the organization involved and mention in the cover letter any relevant information collected where applicable.

After citing the key characteristics, conclude. Write down contact information about the applicant to make it easy for the potential employer to get in touch with the applicant.

Make Money Ideas: Be Effective

The Web is changing every facet of our lives and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The way we incorporate things like advertising marketing or just the basic flow of information in general has become the fuel that feeds the Internet. Make money ideas are a dime a dozen on the Web so it is up to you to figure out which strategies and ideas work best for you.

The best thing about the Internet is that all the questions you may have about a certain subject pertaining to the Web can be found through search engines, forums, blogs, etc that exist on the World Wide Web. So there is virtually nothing holding you back from making money on the Internet. It is only a matter of doing the research, educating yourself, and becoming familiar with methods and procedures of the said strategies.

This is not something that will happen overnight. There are multiple avenues to take when Internet marketing your ideas or somebody else’s. Building up your reputation and making your time valuable is the name of the game. The only way to do this is to be effective. You be effective by understanding the nature of the business. That nature to which you should set your sights is nothing more than traffic. The more traffic you have the more eyes there are to advertise to.

This is the name of the game when looking for make money ideas on the Web. Using links, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google AdSense, and other advertising plans is a surefire way for a company to gain exposure to their targeted customer. This is how you are able to make money on the Internet fast. People need content, ads, or other Internet marketing strategies in place and they pay people to do this for them. This is mainly due to the fact most companies and Web masters think it is too difficult to learn. This is where an Internet marketer comes in and helps expose the product or service that is being offered.

Billboards are dying, newspapers are almost a memory, and while magazines continue to hold strong the future is the Web. Making money in online marketing is a good way for anyone looking to create extra income. It will take some time to get settled in and figure out how it all works but it will be worth it in the end. Seeing it through will require commitment on your end but it will be rewarding once you are rolling.

Choosing an Effective Domain Name

When you first start your business, one of the initial things that you will need to do is to choose a domain name for your business/website. In fact, your domain name will be one of the first things that the other person sees when looking at your brand. One thing that you should keep in mind is that you will have to live with that domain name for a very long time so you better make it a good one.

What goes into choosing a domain name?

As you are in the process of deciding which domain name you should choose, you will want to factor in certain concepts before you actually make a final decision. You will want to choose a name that is short, unusual, and that typifies your particular brand. Okay, those are the things that you should keep in mind. What about things that you should not choose?

In addition to the few basics that have been stated, there are some additional details that you will also wish to consider. They will also help you to choose the best possible domain name for your business.

Your domain name should:

Typify your brand: The name should have some aspect of your brand in it. It should also be a name that people will remember and that is unique to you and to your business.
Be easy to pronounce: Is it easy for you to pronounce your domain name? Is it easy for other people to pronounce it too? If the answer to either one of those questions is no, you may want to rethink the name and come up with something that fits the criteria.
Be short: The last thing you want it for your domain name to be long and cumbersome. You want it to be short, easy to type, easy to pronounce, and easy to share with other people.
Be a.com, if possible: .com is still the most common suffix for domain names. That suffix works for all sorts of businesses, no matter what you are selling. Of course, other suffixes will also work but they are not preferable.
Stay far away from other, similar domain names: If you have a domain name that sounds similar to another business’ (or individual’s) domain name, you may run into trouble. You certainly do not want to get involved with any sort of copyright infringement problems. Tap into your creativity and come up with a name that is uniquely yours.
Use a strong keyword, if possible: A keyword is very important if it works in your domain name. That will help to keep you optimized for the search engines. However, it is not always possible to use a keyword. If you don’t have that as an option, you will come up with another creative domain name.
Give a clear message about what you are selling: If you do it correctly, your domain name will instantly let people know about your brand and your offerings. That will go a long way to distinguishing the right target audience from the people who are actually not your potential clients.
Not necessarily be carved in stone: Of course, you want to keep in mind that your domain name will be with you for a long time. However, that doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be with you forever. If, after a significant amount of time, you find that your domain name just isn’t working for you anymore (maybe you have taken your business in a different direction), you can revise the name and make it work for your new direction.
Stay away from hyphens and numerals: Numerals and hyphens tend to confuse people. That especially applies if you say your domain name to the other person. The number and/or hyphen can be confusing because the other person will not understand if you are using the number instead of the word and when it comes to hyphens, there are several different types of dashes that the other person may use instead. In that case, he or she will never get to your website (or, at least, not easily) and the person may just end up walking away. Why ask for trouble?

Conclusion

As you are setting up your new business and putting all of the pieces into place initially, your domain name is one of the first things that you need to establish. Domain names are not in any way random. A lot of thought goes into choosing a domain name and you should make sure that yours is a clear representation of who you are and what you represent.

How to Choose an Effective Name For Your Foreclosure Cleanup Business

Naming your new enterprise is not only fun but an important first step in opening your foreclosure cleanup business. Choosing your company’s name may seem like a no-brainer, but it can be a difficult task when you take into account the impact it will have on your new business’ image, before you even open your doors.

Let’s discuss a few simple rules of thumb in choosing an effective name for your business from the outset.

Keep It Simple

It’s tempting to get cute and creative in choosing a business name, but the trick is to keep it simple. You want people to be able to say and spell your foreclosure cleanup business name easily.

Easily Spelled: If someone is searching for you in the phone book or online, you want them to be able to easily locate you. And spelling your business name should not be a barrier to them finding your new foreclosure cleanup business.

Can They Say It? Also, you want clients and other business owners to be able to easily pronounce your business name. Why? Because when a client or colleague gets ready to refer your foreclosure cleanup business, you want them to get your business name right so you ultimately get that intended referral.

For example, “Foreclosure Cleaning” is a lot easier to say and spell then “Foreclosure Le Nettoyage” (le nettoyage is the French word for cleaning).

Keep your business name as simple as possible and you’ll be on your way to choosing an effective name for your new enterprise.

Short and Sweet!

Try to keep your business name short, no more than three words. You will be using your business name on your printed material (postcards, business cards, inspection forms, fliers, estimate forms, etc.). The shorter your business name, the easier it will fit on your printed in-house material and marketing pieces.

And, keeping in mind the above, shorter names are easier to say, spell, and most importantly, easier to remember.

What’s In a Name?

What’s in a business name? Everything from your company’s services to its image will be wrapped up in your foreclosure cleanup business’ name. So try to choose a name that tells what your company does.

For example, what do you think Sam’s Services does? Who would have a clue! With a name like Sam’s Services, the company could theoretically handle anything from zebra training to plumbing. But, on the other hand, a name like Sam’s Plumbing would say it all.

Try to stay away from vague names because they will subconsciously give the impression you are trying to be everything to everybody.

Clearly Define What You Do

You want your name to clearly define your company’s services. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but it’s necessary to have a name that will equal success. Try going one step further by choosing a name that also has its finger on the pulse of your industry.

In our industry, using the word cleanup or cleaning, or something equally effective, is key. For example, Foreclosure Cleanup, LLC, says the company handles foreclosure cleanup work. Using foreclosure in the company names shows the company is poised to help in the foreclosure crisis. Choosing cleanup is key for obvious reasons: that’s what the company does — cleanup work.

Sam’s Debris Removal is also very effective because it tells what the company does; but Foreclosure Debris Removal is more powerful because the name subconsciously addresses and acknowledges the state of the real estate industry, while providing a concrete solution to the industry’s problems. The company clearly handles debris removal (solution) from properties that have been foreclosed upon (crisis).

Important First Step

Choosing an effective business name is an important first step in opening your foreclosure cleanup business. Remember, try to make sure your new enterprise’s name is 1) no more than three words, 2) easy to say, spell and remember, and 3) gives a clear indication of the types of services your business handles.

Conclusion

There are several other rules of thumb in choosing an effective business name, but the above will put you on the right track in choosing the perfect name for your new foreclosure cleanup business.

Good luck!

Promotional Gift Ideas for Effective and Successful Business Promotion

The main purpose of every business is gaining more and more profits without spending a lot of money. But, for a successful business, effective sales and marketing strategies as well as perfect and well planned promotion or advertising is essential in a number of ways. And for this, a considerable amount of money is spend every year on advertising and promotion of products and services.

Promotional gift ideas are also a successful way of business promotion that without spending a good amount of money can lead your business to the way of success. In other words, presenting unique and business related gifts to existing customers, prospective clients, employees and business partners is considered as an effective marketing tool to promote your business and making people aware to your aim. When it comes to promotional gift ideas, then the marker places are flourished with an assortment of products and ideas to gift all those related to your business.

Right from coffee plunger to iPhone cases, leather CD cases, airline toilet bag, keyring and pen sets, vantage binoculars, traveller kit, candle sets, beautiful wallet, folding umbrella, cooler /warmer, digital clock, mugs, flasks, book set, to any thing else that can suit your business promotional gift ideas. Depending on your choice and ideas, you can select any kind of promotional product and also customise them according your requirements. In other words, these promotional and corporate gifts have enough space to imprint with your company name, logo, message and website address.

Apart from this, you can also select them in your preferred colour and design. Moreover, unique and innovative promotional gift ideas are also suggested by professionals who have gained so much experience in the field of promotional products and gift ideas. They can easily aware you with the unique gifts that can boost the popularity of your products, business or services. Apart from this, these professionals also offer you an option of get your selected items and products customised according to your choice and desire. These professional also offer their services online.

10 Effective Small Home Based Business Ideas for Startup Small Business Owners

It is always desirable by many of us to establish a home-based business where we can work from the comfort of our home and can earn a handsome residual income. Therefore, we have listed here ten effective home based business ideas for starting up a home-based small business. Why do we say these “effective small home based business ideas”? Because these are all ideas which are tested and we actually made money through these ideas at one time or another.

1- Develop a Niche Affiliate Site

A niche website is a small website that only focuses a single segment of market. There are hundreds of thousands of niche-websites on the web. You can search for a segment of your interest or expertise and then build a catchy website with high-quality content. Choose the products based on high turnover and handsome commissions for affiliate sales on your website. Promote your site for targeted traffic and then track results.

2 – Get paid by Online Paid Surveys

Online paid surveys are a popular and easy way of generating a residual income stream for you and your family. Every global company is spending a lot on the market research and consumer behavior patterns. They hire survey firms to conduct market research for their existing and upcoming products and services and pay generously for views of the people. So it is easy to sort down reliable survey companies and filling out surveys to get a comfortable way of earning from home.

3 – Selling on Craigslist & eBay:

Craigslist is an online garage sale site. It is free to place your sale offers on the craigslist, and sometimes you don’t even need to be worried about shipping and packaging; people come to your home and pick up the items they bought from you. You can sell anything at craigslist or eBay from the old garage items to your small handmade unique items. You can find a clientele for almost anything on these sites and can earn money for you and your family.

4 – Design a website:

If you are running your own website or blog, then you will be familiar with the WordPress and can learn how to create websites by using readily available WordPress themes and how to fix them. You can offer these services to other peoples by learning some customizations like changing color schemes, designing simple logs and banners, make small changes in the layout, etc. In this way, you can easily create and sell unique websites for others and can earn residual income.

5 – Earn Money as a Virtual Worker

You can sign up websites like MicroWorkers.com to offer your services to the individuals and small businesses. MicroWorkers.com has different categories like content writing and social media. You can earn money by completing small tasks like writing a review of a product, posting comments to the blog posts and being fan of a Facebook page, etc.

6 – Earn through Ads on Your Website or Blog:

If you are running a website or blog which has a reasonable amount of daily visitors, then you can earn through placing ads on your websites. Quality content and high-traffic site can give you a handsome stream of advertisement earnings through CPC and CPM campaigns. In these ads, you will be paid for click or impression of the ad placed on your website. You can place any good ad network like Google AdSense for ad campaigns can enjoy extra money through advertisements.

7 – Domain Name Speculation:

Speculating and registering domain is a popular and easy way to earn money online. It involves creativity and thoughtfulness of the person. People find and register domain names, which appear valuable and wait for the time when someone approaches them to sell that domain name in the future. Such domains are parked on pages, which clearly indicate that these domains are for sale and also mention the contact details of the owner. Meanwhile, these owners place catchy advertisements on parking pages and earn advertisement money.

8 – Be a Freelancer:

If you have some expertise in graphics design, programming, writing, marketing research, data entry or any other simple administrative work, then you can offer your services through freelancing websites like guru.com and elance.com. These sites offer a fantastic platform for the people who want to work online. Simply join any of the reputable freelancing website, offer your services in any given category and start earning without spending a penny from your own pocket.

9 – Offer Transcription Services:

Transcription service is the procedure of creating text form of data from recorded voice and conference calls. If you have extra ordinary listening and writing skills, then you can offer your transcription services on the web and can earn a handsome amount based upon your work.

10 – CPA Marketing:

Cost per Action marketing means getting paid when a specific action is performed through your referral link. The referring money can be from $1 to $25 depending upon the type of action performed. This is a quick way to generate cash by referring people. It is highly recommended to use trust worth websites after proper research.