A Taste Of Fashion Writing

Sometimes there are some projects which come your way which you think you would not be able to handle. I have had one similar experience lately. I got in touch with a gentlemen via one of the social networking websites that I frequent on when I he enquired if I was up for another assignment. I requested him to send me details for the assignment and that I would get in touch with him after I go through the same.

The gentleman was kind enough to send me an elaborate description of what he exactly wanted. In his words... "We are creating a portal for branded fashion in India.This is fashion which middle and upper middle class can afford, and is a step below the designer fashion which only ultra rich and Page3 personalities wear. We want to target the fashion which common youngster can wear to college or office." They wanted content for articles in content of the same. It was not a one time assignment and it required a regular relay of articles on the desired requirement. This had me thinking for a moment. The hesitation was not because of the time commitment but mostly because fashion was one domain where i was completely naive. I was not sure if I could do justice to the articles and if I had it in me to bring out the desired elements that would have the fashion conscious readers hooked and interested. It had me thinking hard. I spoke to the people involved in the project and this made me a little more comfortable as I liked the people I would be working with.

I was required to submit a sample article initially following the guidelines provided to me by the client. This was going to be the acid test for me. I decided that if this article met my satisfaction and if I liked the process I would seriously give this assignment a thought. And as it turned out that i really liked the whole process of digging into this new territory. The people in the team were eager to help out and provided me with candid feedback regarding the sample. This further cemented my decision and now I am on with this team writing for them good about 4 articles per week.

Clients brief: The language has to be simple, something that the young kids could connect you and enjoy reading it. The content should be informative and at the same time not boring. Short punchy lines would be apt.

Find below one of the articles that was submitted by me to towards this assignment:

In this movie besides his super smooth dance moves, grabbing attention is Shahid’s chic yet casual attire. It is worth noticing that taking his relaxed look to a new level are his uber cool pair of Aviator sunglasses. There is no denying the fact that Aviator’s have always been in fashion and worn by generations alike. What works in the favor of Aviator sunglasses are that not only do they help shield your eyes, but they do it stylishly! They are very versatile and can be worn just about anywhere as they are extremely comfortable..... These sunglasses are ideal for everyday eyewear both for men and women. In the case of women they can so easily toughen up a feminine frock and for men they go ahead and provide a touch of street style chic to the normal pair of jeans and a jacket.

With large rectangular frames and metal rims, these glasses are available in several different colour tints for people to choose from and to team them with their dresses.

When shopping for sunglasses it is important that you try on several pairs so that you end up with the one which you feel most comfortable wearing. There are some tips which can help you zero down on that perfect pair which would suit your face the best....

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Payment Options Beyond PayPal

For any service provider it is very important that they have in place the right kind of payment machinery to facilitate easy and safe payment towards their services. As a freelance writer I had till now made use of the services of PayPal to receive payment for my overseas assignments. But due to the recent developments at PayPal as a result of which they temporarily suspended their India operations I was left looking for option. It was then that I realised that there might be some others like me who too would be looking for alternative options to receive their payments from abroad. Listed below are some of the major options that you can consider:

1. By cheque: Your client can mail you the cheque for the required amount. Once you get the cheque you can deposit the same in your bank and get the amount credited in your account. The biggest pitfall for this mode of payment is the time duration. The time taken by the cheque to get cleared by your bank is usually very long and if you are in need of funds immediately then surely this method would not work well for you.

2. Wire Transfer: If waiting for your cheque to get credited is not what you would ideally want then the next best option here would be to opt for a wire transfer. You would be required to share your bank information(including your bank account number) with your client who can then make the payment. This method also entitles a fee in order to get the money through.

3. Credit card: If you have in place a merchant account then you can go ahead and ask your clients to pay with a credit card too. Not only is this convenient in today's time but also appeals to most clients. 2Checkout.com is one such website which allows you to open a merchant account and move ahead smoothly.

4. XOOM: This online payment option allows you to send and receive funds from any country to any country in the world. Albeit coming with a small fee to send money this online payment option has recently caught the liking of many. All that you need to do here is to to create an account with xoom and then send your details to your payer. He will then use your details and send across the money either using his credit card or directly from his bank account. The money then reaches the bank partner in your country from where you can have access to the same.

5. Moneybookers: Another good option to have access to your online payments. Working on the lines of PayPal, moneybookers requires you to open an account with it and send/ receive funds. The major drawback here is that owing to legal restrictions the services of this website are not extended to the United States Of America.

6. Western Union: This is another very popular means to have access to your funds from abroad. You can send and receive money from any part of the world using Western Union. The major drawback here is that you need to personally go and collect funds from the Western Union agent near you.

7. Payooner: A relatively new concept, Payooner provides you with a debit card through which you can send money abroad or receive money on it.

These were some of the major options which I had listed out when I was weighing my options. Though I am yet to finalize on one of them but at least I am a little less anxious now knowing that there ARE options available.

Would love to hear from you all too if I have missed out on some other options and as to what is your preferred mode of receiving payments.

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