The Basics. ormat (Unless stated otherwise). o... ont... Rich Text Format file. Times New Roman 12 pt. Double line spaced

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2 The Basics Ensure that all contact between yourself and the customer takes place through the Writer's Job Shop system.* Refer any disputes you experience with the customer to the Support Department immediately. Try to accomodate all customer requirements and requests where reasonable. Notify customer services if you feel that any changes requested by the customer represent a significant deviation from the original order. Submit top quality work at all times. Check the grammar, spelling and format of your work before submitting it. Provide customers with any revisions they request until they are satisfied with your work. ormat (Unless stated otherwise). Rich Text Format file Times New Roman 12 pt Double line spaced Note that you are responsible for the payment of taxes or insurance contributions in your country of residence. Study the Writer s Guide carefully and check document requirements before submitting an order. Provide us with feedback and suggestions for how we can improve or system or writer s guides. o... Read and understand all the terms and conditions. Ensure that all information provided during the registration process is true and accurate. Sign into the system at least once every twenty four (24) hours to check for customer messages and s. Ensure that you are available by phone (landline or cellular/mobile) or Internet (Messaging system or s) at all times while you are working on an Order. Ensure that all work you submit is plagiarism-free, original and is not owned by any third party, fully or partially.* Communicate with the support department immediately if you are unable to complete an order or you expect to submit an order late.* ont... Open more than one writer s account.* Disclose, copy or reproduce any processes, designs, operating procedures, business methods and innovations utilized by the company during the term of this agreement, or at any time thereafter.* Take an order unless you are certain that you can meet the requirements within the specified timescale.* Give your personal contact details to a customer.* Ever send any rude, aggressive or unprofessional s to the customer. Submit orders late.* *Failure to complete orders or meet deadlines, unsatisfactory work, unacceptable conduct, failure to meet customer requirements or copying and plagiarism will result in revocation of membership and termination of the writer's account.

3 Writer s Guide Structure The essay should start with an introduction that sets the tone of the paper and introduces the theme, if required. The second section of the essay should provide supporting evidence for the statements made in the introduction. The third section of the essay should build on the information contained in the second section and should provide further detail. The essay should end with a conclusion that summarizes some of the main ideas and asserts why the customer would be a good candidate for this particular school. Admission Essays, Personal Statements, Letter of Intent and Scholarship Essays The required content of these orders will vary according to the instructions provided by the school, college or university. You should read all instructions carefully in order to ensure that the objectives are met. Where necessary, please do some research into the school itself in order to ensure that the style and content of your writing is suitable for that establishment. If the customer has requested the development of a theme please agree the specifics of this with the customer before starting to write. Style Try and catch the reader s attention without using clichés or inappropriate jokes. Start the essay with a hook that will keep catch the reader s attention and make the composition stand out. For example, if the customer asks you to write a paper on Good Communication, you could introduce the topic with a statement such as, When it comes to strong communication I have a secret skill. I have a special ability that not many people have, is rarely recognized but is always appreciated This is much more effective than Good team communication is important for many reasons and will make the reader want to read on. Ensure that the essay is organized, concise and to the point. Unless instructed otherwise, the essay should be written in first person and the writing should appear personal, honest and natural. Content Assure the audience that the customer looks forward to the challenges of the program and the learning experience, not just the end benefits. Consider events or ideas in the customer s life that may have impacted their outlook and create an interesting anecdote that justifies why the customer wants a place on the course that they have applied to. Try to be creative with the content and tell the admissions/grant boards something different about the candidate than that which they will already be able to see on lists of extra curricular activities. Consider what the majority of students would reply to a given question and try to deviate from this. For example, when asked to write about someone who has had a major impact on their lives the majority of candidates will write about their mother, father or a teacher they had in school. It is therefore advisable to write about someone outside of these obvious social groups.

4 Article Writing Research: Consider the topic of the article and the intended audience. Consider how much knowledge the intended audience may have and aim to write the article with this in mind. Research the topic you wlll be writing about. Find similar articles on the topic and note the main points. Do not plagiarize or copy any text from other articles. Organization: Convey the main idea of the article within the opening sentence, summarize the article within the first paragraph, elaborate on the summary in the body of the article and restate the summary in the final paragraph. Present one idea per paragraph. Use bulleted lists and paragraph headings where appropriate. Keep articles between 5 and 6 paragraphs in length. Language: Use a conversational tone and straightforward, plain English. Explain any complicated technical language. Do not write in third person. Support all claims and assertions with facts and figures. Try to avoid passive voice and abstract language Business blogs Style Blogs are intended to be used as an opportunity to share useful information, so whilst the blog should promote the customer s service or product, it should not be written in the same style as promotional marketing material, i.e. no big sell. If the customer is selling widgets, for example, the blog should focus upon some of the recent developments in the field of widgets and some of the potential uses of widgets. The customer s company should be promoted in the blog but this should primarily take on the form of sponsorship rather than being through traditional selling phrases such as we re the number one widget manufacturer!. We recommend that the blog produced is 90% information share and 10% customer promotion. Things to Consider Write original copy that contains unique and interesting content; do not simply refer to an industry news article or a post on someone else s blog. Keep the blog copy related to the customer s business and industry. Ensure that the topic you use is relevant and interesting. Include a contact link or contact information for the customer s business. ebay Product Descriptions 1) Ensure the basics are in place. Please start with an overview of the item with specific details of the following: The condition the product is in. Details of the company/artist/designer/author who made it. Information about the material it is made from. Details of the date it was manufactured. The country and location it is in. Details of any notable features. 2) Consider adding a creative touch. What do you/would a potential customer like about the item? Who do you think it would appeal to and why? Is there an interesting story you could tell about the item? In the case of personal items, why is the seller choosing to sell the product?

5 3) Ensure that relevant keywords are included: Include relevant keywords and power words that will motivate the potential buyer to make a bid and buy the product. Stress any product benefits and use active and enthusiastic language. Examples: Timesaving, ease-of-use, money saving, etc. Where available, the description should refer to the listing s photographs. Stress any product benefits and use active and enthusiastic language. 4) Ensure that the Product Description is tailored for the Internet: Make the item description as complete as possible. Make each sentence short - web page readers like to scan text. Where possible, ensure that the description refers to the listing s photos. Stress any product benefits and use active and enthusiastic language. Editing Documents should be edited in Microsoft Word. Ensure that you track the changes as you edit the document by activating Word s Track Changes tool, which you can find on the Toolbar or the Tools menu. When you are editing the customer s document you should be taking the following into consideration: Proofread the document and correct any punctuation, verb tense, spelling and sentence structure issues. If the paper is an academic essay ensure that any referencing follows the appropriate academic guidelines. If the customer has not provided any details of the reference system to be used please adopt MLA ( 57/01/). Check the overall structure of the document; does it suit the intended purpose and audience? If not, restructure to meet customer s objectives. Documents should be saved in RTF format and you should save two versions, one that contains the tracked changes highlighted as per Microsoft s formatting and one with all the changes accepted. Both versions should be sent back to the customer. Where specifically requested, an editor legend should be used as follows: Words to be deleted: Highlight in red. Words to be added: Highlight in green. Changes in grammar or punctuation: Highlight in yellow. Comments or suggestions: Highlight in blue. Newsletters Topic The customer may, or may not, have provided you with details of the topic that they would like to utilize in their newsletter. If they haven t, you should consider the customer s business and product base and try and identify a subject that will appeal to this audience. Some ideas you may wish to consider are as follows: Recent news stories New product reviews Industry trends Upcoming events Style and Structure The content should be fresh and informative. The newsletter needs to be of interest to the customer and should offer them some expert advise/insider tips on the subject of choice. The primary objective of the letter is to inform customers and, as such, it should be written in a relatively relaxed manner. Do not bombard customers with a hard sell.

6 newsletters should be kept relatively short and written in straightforward, plain English. There should be a maximum of words per sentence and no more than five sentences per paragraph. Use bullet points and numbered lists where appropriate, as customers tend to scan rather than read ed newsletters. End the newsletter with a short statement about the products or services that the customer provides; again do not do this in a hard sell manner. 7) Final paragraph. Write a positive statement or question that is designed to make the employer take action. Finish by thanking the employer for their time and consideration. 8) Close the letter with the appropriate sign off. Your sincerely should be used when the letter has been addressed to a named individual, Yours faithfully when the name was unknown and Dear Sir/Madam or To whom it may concern was used. Job Application/Cover Letters Covering letters should be written in first person. 1) Address. Include the address in the top right hand corner. If the customer hasn t provided this information leave a placeholder. 2) Leave four blank lines and then write the date, justified left. 3) Leave four blank lines and then enter the contact name and address of the company to which the application is being addressed. Again, leave a placeholder for this if the customer hasn t provided the required information. The recipient s address should be left justified. 4) Paragraph one: Tell the employer why the applicant is writing to them and the position that is being applied for. 5) Paragraph two and three: Outline the customer s qualifications and how they match the job being applied for. Consider the target audience for the covering letter. If the customer has provided specific details of a firm or an industry that they wish to apply to, think about making the cover letter relevant to this particular audience. If provided, analyze the job description and ensure that the needs of the employer are considered and addressed in the coveri ng letter. 6) Ensure that the content portrays an enthusiasm for the role and a desire to help the company meet their own objectives and goals. Make solid points about how the applicant can help the company and support these with specific examples. Press Releases 1) Create a headline. The headline should summarize the key points of the press release and should be short and succinct. One effective method of writing a headline is to write the press release first and then extract a small number of keywords that summarize the content. Write the headline in present tense and try to be creative in order to grab the reader s attention. Highlight the headline in bold with a font size that is one point larger than the main text of the article. 2) Place the words "IMMEDIATE RELEASE" in capital letters on the left margin, directly above the headline. 3) Write the copy for the main body. The genre of a press release is very similar to a news report and should be constructed as such. Start with the date and the city from which the press release is originating. Commence with a paragraph that sums up the content of the press release. Construct the opening sentence with an attention-grabbing sentence and then expand upon this in the next one to two sentences. Keep the body short and to the point. Do not use any technical or complex vocabulary. Try to incorporate as many facts and data as possible about the event or announcement. Consider who, what, where, when and why.

7 4) Write the information about the company. Describe the company in one or two sentences and place this after the headline. Add contact information at the end of the press release that includes the following information: -Company s official name -Media contact name -Office address -Telephone and fax numbers - address -Web site address 5) Signal the end of the press release with three hash symbols (#) centered directly underneath the last line of the release. Product Descriptions 1) Study the product. Look at all the information provided by the customer, including product images, specifications, photographs and websites. Try to obtain as much information as possible for inclusion in the product description. 2) Consider the features of the customer s product or service and translate these into benefits. The customer s customer will not be buying a product or a service, they will be looking for a benefit or a result. For example, ladies don t purchase designer handbags because they are necessarily looking for high quality leather. They purchase designer handbags because they are attempting to attain prestige and an image of wealth and status. Brainstorm all the benefits of the customer s offering and try to include these in the letter. Let the customers know how the product or service will make their lives easier, better, healthier, more productive etc. and rephrase these benefits throughout the letter so that the message is repeated. 3) Use facts and figures to describe the product or service. Describe the product purpose, usability, features, benefits and components. In this section you should also include the product dimensions, weight, color, size, item number, serial number and country of manufacture where relevant. Go into detail about how and why the product will achieve the benefits that you are claiming. If the product is highly technical list the specification in an appendix or additional page and include the highlights in the product description itself. 4) Tell the readers what they will get. Be clear as to what the customers will receive for their money and how much the product costs. 5) Include third-party testimonies. Where available, use positive statements from past customers that endorse the product or service. 6) Tell the customer why they need to act immediately. If the offer being described is limited let the customer know. 7) Include provider contact details. Ensure that the customers know where to find the product and services and where they can go to learn more. Include shipping information, where relevant. Proofreading Documents should be edited in Microsoft Word. Ensure that you track the changes as you edit the document by activating Word s Track Changes tool, which you can find on the Toolbar or the Tools menu. When proofreading you should correct any punctuation, verb tense, spelling and sentence structure issues. If the customer s instructions indicate that they require more than a proofread, please inform customer support. Documents should be saved in RTF format and you should save two versions. One that contains the tracked changes highlighted as per Microsoft s formatting and one with all the changes accepted. Both versions should be sent back to the customer. Sales Brochures 1) Review the customer information and identify the tone that will be compatible with the marketing image of the firm and its customer base. 2) Produce a headline for the front cover that attracts attention.

8 3) Create an introductory paragraph that sums up the companies offerings and makes the reader want to read more. 4) Use subheadings to present the following information: a. Identification of your product/service. b. Benefits of your product/service. The biggest focus in the brochure should be on persuasion; sell benefits not features. c. The competitive edge of the company you are describing. d. Testimonials, client lists, awards and honors (where available). 5) Ensure that the brochure contains full contact information for the company. and include the highlights in the letter itself. 6) Include third-party testimonies. Where available, use positive statements from past customers that endorse the product or service. 7) Tell the customer why they need to act immediately. Sales Letters 1) Create a strong opening sentence. Consider opening the letter with a question that can engage the reader. E.g. Have you ever struggled to juggle all the administration tasks your business demands? If I could show you a method of having all of your administration completed by one provider at a single low price would you like to learn more?. 2) Consider the features of the customer s product or service and translate these into benefits. The customer s customer will not be buying a product or a service, they will be looking for a benefit or a result. For example, ladies don t purchase designer handbags because they are necessarily looking for high quality leather. They purchase designer handbags because they are attempting to attain prestige, beauty and status. Brainstorm all the benefits of the customer s offering and try to include these in the letter. Rephrase them throughout the letter so that the message is repeated. 3) Use facts and figures to describe the more important benefits of the product/service. Go into detail about how and why the product will achieve the benefits that you are claiming. 4) Tell the readers what they will get. Be clear as to what the customers will receive for their money. If the product is highly technical list the specification in an appendix or additional page and include the highlights in the letter itself. 5) Include third-party testimonies. Where available, use positive statements from past customers that endorse the product or service. 6) Tell the customer why they need to act immediately. If the offer being described is limited let the customer know. 7) Include provider contact details. Ensure that the customers know where to find the product and services and where they can go to learn more. Website and SEO Copy 1) Research Keywords Consider the customer s product or service together with their target market and brainstorm some keywords. Enter your words into Google s Keyword Tool ( KeywordToolExternal) and check the Use synonyms box in order to produce a further list of keywords. Select the keywords you will use. The most effective keywords will be those that have high search volumes but low advertiser competition. 2) Write the SEO Copy. The copy should utilize the keywords as much as possible without losing readability. Ideally you should have a keyword density between 14 and 17%. Check the pronoun usage in the article and where possible replace any pronouns with keywords. For example if your keywords are editing and proofreading, do not write, It is a good way of ensuring that your documents are accurate. Instead, Editing is a good way of ensuring that your documents are accurate will be much more effective. Ensure that keywords are present in the title, first and last lines and that there is at least one keyword in use in each paragraph.

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