The World Of Presentations!

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on making a presentation for www.savingsmela.com and boy what a process did it turn out to be! I was used to making presentations for my personal use but never for a company. And believe me there was a huge difference in it! Now once I am done with it I can look back and visualize myself as to how I managed to nail it and mind you with good and encouraging feedback! :)

The first draft that I sent was good but yes for a in house presentation. This I can say now after I compare it with the final product that I delivered. Even though I did try to make it creative but the punch was missing. Same was the feedback. I was back on a clean board! Went through a couple of sample presentations and saw where I was lacking. I discovered that it was the beginning. I had to make that IMPACTFUL. Something out of the ordinary. For the same I created an idea board wherein i jotted down words which came in my mind when I thought of the brand. Using them I made 3-4 small yet catchy slides as an introduction. And believe me it worked! Things simply fell into place! All I did was to combine these slides with the ones that I had sent previously and voila I had my presentation ready!

And the result was something that made me excited too!! It is all about words. And in presentations the lesser the better. Create impact. Use words as a double edge sword. Something that will make your reader to hook on and go to the next stage. Believe me it is possible! Keep this as your motto when you have to make a presentation. Highlighting key points on the slides too adds to its visual appeal. It is also a great idea to incorporate box diagrams instead of filling all your slides with plain text.

Also, it is very important to keep in mind the fact that the ending of the presentation too is as important as the beginning. You have to make your readers leave excited and with a thought in their mind. It is a good idea to end your presentation with a thought provoking slide or may be with a summary of your presentation in a fun filled way. Anything will work as long as your audience is hooked!

I so wish that I could share the final presentation with you guys here but we have the issue of copyrighting!

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A Thoughtful Read

While surfing some blogs today I came across this simple yet good article. What I loved the most about this article apart from the message that it wished to convey was the simple language used in it. I truly feel that simple language can prove out to be more impactful than heavy words laden sentences. This piece conveys my thoughts!

The article is about tips and advices to make your writing powerful. Yeah I know.. you must be feeling that been there seen that but what is the harm if you get to read it all again and refresh your writing principles too!! :) Enjoy!!

Article: 7 Simple Ways to Dramatically Improve Everything You Write

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A new project came and delivered..

Client: Urbanimatic Designs
Requirement: Content for home page.

Got hold of a new project on twitter and it was a quicky! :) The client needed content for the home page of his website. His website is all about website templates, twitter backgrounds and YouTube backgrounds.

His creative brief: I need the content to be personal because most of my followers asked me a lot of time where they can donate me a buck or two for the information and resources i share on twitter so i decided to create this websites and instead of donations they will be able to buy cool twitter background.

The client had also provided enough information for me to start work.
I got the understanding that the client wished the home page to be his forum to talk one to one with his friends and therefore his requirement of a personal language was completely justified. With no heavy words and a simple conversational language I formulated the content and delivered what the client needed.

Clear, prompt and easy availability of the client made the project easy.

The website might not be running as of now but should be up in a day or two... Till then the quest for new projects goes on!

PS: The work on the IT project is also going on with couple of reviews and edits. Have been paid the first installment and all's well! :)

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I take an advance payment of 50%- YES I DO

I need to settle this once and for all. I have gone tired explaining it out as to why I need to have an advance before I start working on my projects. The clients have responded back plain rude, confused or in some instances considering that I do not have the required competence YET to put forward this demand. Now that is a sure OUCH. Just for my personal satisfaction I wish to openly state that Yes, I demand an advance if you wish to utilize my content writing services. This statement is not something which I go on to make just from the back of my head. I have reasons and rationales to back the same. reasons which justify that my services are worth an advance. Seriously, I guess I should attach this blog post with every correspondence that I have with my future clients! :)

1. I charge an advance because I have no intentions of falling prey to clients who to start off have a bag full of principles with them but later on decide to polish off with my work without paying a dime for it. By this I by no means wish to categorize all clients as bad. In fact, over a period of time I have had the opportunity to get to know some of the best human beings with whom I worked on individual projects. But then the entire picture is not as rosy. This rule by me is also because of some clients who for some strange reason decide to halt the project mid way. If you wish me to do the project pro bono kindly ASK. I might just do it for free! It is in my interest that I desire an advance. This allows me to safeguard my work, effort and time that I have devoted towards the project which the client very coolly decides to abandon with.
   
2. An advance payment allows me to judge as to if the client is really serious about the project or just wishes to test waters as he might have previously done and succeeded in several other occasions. Sorry, I accept it that I am gullible and can fall into your trap if I do not have limits set for me in order to safe guard my own interest.
3. My line of work of creative writing works on trust. There are not many legal contracts and written agreements found here. With a thin line dividing profit and loss I wish to safe guard my income and profit by having a backing of an advance payment. Heck I am not the only one demanding an advance for my services, every respectable professional in what so ever field they work in have since years demanded the same towards providing their services. So am I. Accept it and please respect it.
   

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Understand Search Engine Optimization(SEO)

It is very much possible that almost all of us who are in the process of content writing have very often been confronted by the term SEO. So what exactly is SEO? I seriously believe that SEO is the ladder climbing on which your website can figure on search result pages of various search engines and reach the target audiences to whom you wish your work to reach. It is a process which will allow your web pages to crawl up fast and successfully on the search engines and thereby get maximum hits. Believe me, it is not at all a complicated process and is a conjunction of several rules which have to be kept in mind when you write the content for your website.

• The holy grail of SEO are the KEYWORDS! Yes, the keywords which can best justify the content in your work can help you make or break the visibility potential of your website. This calls for some very serious research to scout for all relevant SEO words. Google too has a very simple but surely reliable keyword search option which can help you narrow down the most effective keywords pertaining to your content.

• RELEVANT ORIGINAL CONTENT should not be neglected at all as this is what will make your content readable and make the readers come back again looking for more quality. As a good content writer it is the content that I would publish would stand as a testimony to my talent. Search engines also look at the genuineness of your content to check if you are a serious writer. Also, content which is simply copied and pasted from any other website will seldom make search engines favor your website.

• Building LINKS is also a reliable way to get many more readers to discover your content. With plenty of options available in the present times in the form of social networking websites, professional websites and other interaction platforms this task of linking has become very easy. i too have gone ahead and linked my blog as well as my website to my social networking sites as well as my professional web links too!
  

• Building META TAGS is also an option which is exploited by content writers in order to make their work feature higher on websites. Meta tags are description of your content written in its HTML code which is not visible on your website but is something which search engines like Google recognize and read and thereby enable your website to crawl up.
  

Surely it is your talent towards writing which will make it or break it for you but then if taken the aid of these simple SEO rules you are one step more closer towards improving the chances of your website being seen by a much larger audience.

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Start right now!

If you feel that you have it in you to pursue writing as a career or for that matter any other talent then the buzz word is START! Most of us hesitate to take the first plunge and wait for the right time. Believe you me the right time is NOW! It is just the first step which will be the most unsure. You have just got to believe in yourself and your talent. ohh yes and in networking! there is no better way to get hold of potential clients than by carrying out adequate networking. If you are just starting out then grab hold of all the articles and literary works that you have done so far just for yourself and make a portfolio for yourself. it need not be something artistic or flowery but something which define YOU. You have to identify your strong points and present the same in the portfolio or else the employer will be left confused as to what your strong points are all about.

The internet is full of networking sites which will come to your aid. There is no better and a faster mean of communication than that done by word of mouth! No wonder women are considered to be quick in networking! ;)

Once your profile is made start finding people of your interest and your field and add them to your network. Respect towards the other's profession is of utter importance. A small thank you note when accepted into someone's network can do wonders to your image.

It is seriously not that difficult to start a career in content writing on your own. All you need is to get uo and START NOW! Retweet