Thursday, November 7, 2019
The eNotes Blog First Known Jane Austen Manuscript Sells for $1.6Million
First Known Jane Austen Manuscript Sells for $1.6Million This week, the English auction house Sothebys sold the earliest known work of novelist Jane Austen for a stunning $1.6 million dollars (à £993,250 after taxes). The work fetched three times more than what Sothebys had anticipated. The manuscript is titled The Watsons. The sixty-eight pages are written in Austens minuscule hand andà it clearly shows her attempts at revisions throughout. It is estimated that Austen wrote The Watsons in 1804, when she was twenty-nine years old. The novel centers on protagonist Emma Watson, the youngest of four sisters, who is being raised by a wealthy aunt. Emma must return to her family and wait while her two elder sisters search for husbands. It may be disappointing to some that the work was only a quarter completed, but critics such as Margaret Drabble are thrilled nonetheless. Drabble calls The Watsonsà a tantalizing, delightful and highly accomplished fragment, which must surely have proved the equal of her other six novels, had she finished it. Like her other work, this novel contains Austens quintessential wit, displayed in lines such as Female economy will do a great deal, my Lord, but it cannot turn a small income into a large one. Had the work been completed, it would have made a seventh novel in the authors oeuvre. The other six titles are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. The buyer of the manuscript made his winning bid via telephone and remains anonymous.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
How To Publish Remarkable Content Every Week With Limited Time
How To Publish Remarkable Content Every Week With Limited Time Do you know why top bloggers like Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, or Tim Ferriss are so successful? Itââ¬â¢s because they create remarkable content. Every single time. Focusing on creating high quality content will: Turn you into a respected expert, like it did for Neil Patel or Ramit Sethi. Help you build a loyal fan base, like it did for and their 100k subscribers. Open up huge opportunities for your business. In this article, I will walk you through a step-by-step system to write remarkable content, from beginning to end, even if your time is limited. How to Publish Remarkable Content Every Week (Even if Your Time is Limited)It has become common advice nowadays that you should publish at least once a week. Less than that, people will forget you, and so will Google. More than that, people will love you more, meaning theyââ¬â¢ll buy more from you. It is not true. First, publishing more can actually be counter-productive, as this study from à showed. Second, your publication frequency wonââ¬â¢t matter if you publish crap. You watch Neil Patel and notice he publishes about three times a week. But every time itââ¬â¢s a compelling article filled with a ton of research and data. Each article he publishes is incredibly valuable, so itââ¬â¢s no surprise he gets hundreds of comments. So, if you have a lot of time, definitely go for publishing more. But if your time is limited, focus on quality rather than quantity. Are you committed to publishing only high-quality articles? Table Of Contents Make the Best of Your Limited Time Your Step-by-Step System To Virtually Guarantee Top-Notch Content Decide On A Topic Explain Your Topic Write A Detailed Outline Do Research Write Your First Draft Edit Your First Draft Polish Everything Create Great Content Faster With These Free Resources Download these time-saving resources to create great content easily and efficiently, every time you write. A Time Management Strategies checklist to make the most of your time. A Daily Task Planning template to plan your work each day. A How to Plan a Blog Post in 10 Minutes checklist to prep your posts fast. A Blog Post Writing Process Checklist to make sure your content is exceptional, every time. Make the Best of Your Limited Time Before jumping into the details of creating remarkable content, you need to make sure that you make the best of your limited time. This section is about setting yourself up for success for the system you will learn in the rest of the article. Think of it as the foundations: If you get this right, nothing can stop you. Recommended Reading: The Top 101 Marketing Time Management Strategies You Need To Succeed Back To Table Of Contents Pick a Consistent Time Letââ¬â¢s face it: writing is hard. Thatââ¬â¢s something we tend to postpone time and time again just because weââ¬â¢d rather do easier stuff for our business. But at the end of the day, you need to write. And if you want to create good content on a consistent basis, you need to be serious about it and write every day. The best way to write every day is to pick a consistent time in your day. The best way to write every day is to pick a consistent time.Think of it as non-negotiable, as if it were an appointment to the doctor. For example, every day between 6:30 and 7:30, I write. Thatââ¬â¢s my consistent time. I make sure I never miss it by waking up early and by never allowing anyone to disturb me. Pick a Consistent Place To write every day, you need to build a writing habit. To write every day, you need to build a writing habit.Habits appear when you repeat the same behavior in the same context. Thatââ¬â¢s why I recommend you always write at the same place to build your writing habit. This will make you a lot more efficient and also increase your chances to actually do it and donââ¬â¢t get distracted by external factors. Build Your Own Writing Routine To help you stick to the habit, try to take a few steps before starting to make it more enjoyable. It could be: A special music playlist for writing. Making yourself a cup of tea or coffee before starting. Any specific set of actions you will always do and enjoy before writing. Make sure you enjoy doing it and that you can do it every day. This will act as the trigger of your writing habit. Doing it time and time again will help get in the mood for writing. After a while, it makes your brain switch in writing mode a lot faster. Set up a Robust Automated System I donââ¬â¢t know many habits that are harder to stick to than writing daily. While the previous points will help you do it more consistently, you need to build a solid system around them to make sure they wonââ¬â¢t fail you. What does it mean? First, it means writing it down. For example, since Iââ¬â¢m working during the day for my day job, I schedule my writing time in the morning, with the other tasks of my business: This is non-negotiable time that I will NEVER give to anyone. Second, I track my writing by writing every day how many words I wrote and about what. I do this in a Google Spreadsheet and then automatically create a simple chart to show how much Iââ¬â¢m writing week after week. This helps to quickly see when youââ¬â¢re falling off your habit. For example, you can notice two weeks near the end of the graph where I was busy doing other stuff. Fortunately, I caught myself up and fixed it. I find this is a good way to stay motivated and create even more content. Get an Accountability Partner You could try to do by yourself, but there is nothing better than someone else to kick your a** when youââ¬â¢re slacking off. Slacking off? Get an accountability partner to kick your a**.With my accountability partner, we both fill up a spreadsheet with all our weekly tasks (including writing): For each day, we write whether the task is ââ¬Å"TODOâ⬠, already ââ¬Å"Doneâ⬠, or has been ââ¬Å"Failedâ⬠. Itââ¬â¢s a great way to not only focus on the right tasks, but also to have someone else look at what youââ¬â¢re doing and give you honest feedback on how you could do better. Schedule Your Writing Tasks You know that creating a blog post is not just about writing. Creating a blog post is not just about writing.Itââ¬â¢s also researching, editing, polishing, making pictures, brainstorming headlines, etc. But then, you may stop writing for a few days for those non-writing tasks. It breaks your habit and makes it harder to start another article then. There are two solutions for this problem. The first is to use a schedule that allows you to work on multiple articles simultaneously. When you edit your first article, start the second one at the same time. Thatââ¬â¢s exactly what they do at Buffer: The second solution is to write other things than blog posts: newsletters, sales pages, email funnels, video scripts, etc. This is a good way to not be overwhelmed by too many articles at the same time, and it breaks the routine of only writing blog posts. Recommended Reading: This Is The Ultimate Blog Writing Process To Create Killer Posts Make Sure You Never Run Out of Ideas Letââ¬â¢s say youââ¬â¢ve been writing every day for a while and never missed a day. What if, for tomorrowââ¬â¢s writing sessionâ⬠¦ You have nothing to write. No more blog post ideas. Not good ones, at least. Meeting such an issue could mess a lot with your writing habit and call it an end. You can anticipate this problem by generating enough ideas to never run out. There are two approaches. Generate enough ideas to never run out.The first one is to generate one idea per day. One idea. Itââ¬â¢s easy, right? It takes 5 minutes, you do it every day, as a habit, for example right before you start writing. By doing so, you will generate more ideas than you can write about. James Altucher, the master of finding ideas, wrote that ââ¬Å"Quality is a byproduct of Quantityâ⬠. From your list of ideas, you can extract only the best ones, and get rid of the rest. The second approach is to take one day per week (or per month, depending on how many ideas you find) to generate a huge list of ideas. Same principle. It depends if youââ¬â¢re better at batching your task all at once, or making small progress every day. These were the foundations for your writing habits. You have all your systems in place to make sure you never fail and make the best out of your limited time. What follows is how to create top-notch content ... the easy way! Recommended Reading: 150+ Blog Ideas That Will Absolutely Kill Writers' Block Back To Table Of Contents Your Step-by-Step System To Virtually Guarantee Top-Notch Content Writing top-notch content can take dozens of hours if you donââ¬â¢t systematize your approach. The most common mistake beginners do is to write, iterate, iterate again, and keep iterating again until satisfied. This leads to perfectionism and makes you waste hours. Perfectionism wastes hours.Instead, in this article, I will give you a step-by-step system that will: Make writing a lot easierà for you. Make writing a lot fasterà for you. Make sure that at the end of the process you have an article that stands out from the competition. The big picture of the system looks like this: Decide on a topic. Explain your topic in simple words. Write a detailed outline for your topic. Make research. Write your first draft. Edit your first draft. Polish everything. Make a picture out of this? Notice how different it is than what most people are doing. Most bloggers decide for a topic, write the article, fix the grammar mistakes, and publish. With my system, you will take the time to front-load the work. This will not only make you gain a lot of time but also and also make sure you create really great content. I wonââ¬â¢t make you wait longer, so letââ¬â¢s jump right in with step #1: Decide on a Topic Your first step is to decide on a broad topic. It might start with an idea of yours, a question from your readers, or an article youââ¬â¢ve read on another blog. You donââ¬â¢t know yet if this will be a really good article or not. Itââ¬â¢s just a topic that popped in your mind, and you wonder whether itââ¬â¢ll be good or not. Here are some examples of topics I have in mind: How to use guest blogging to grow your email list from 0 to 1,000 subscribers. What cold showers and writing have in common? Why you donââ¬â¢t need to be a creative person to be a good writer. Notice they look like headlines, though I havenââ¬â¢t taken the time to optimize them. Weââ¬â¢ll take care of that only when the article is done. By the way, I strongly recommend you keep a list of all your topic ideas somewhere in your computer. Ideas come and go, so you better write them down if you want to remember them and make sure you donââ¬â¢t run out of it. Recommended Reading: The Skyscraper Technique May Actually Improve Your Content Marketing Back To Table Of Contents Explain Your Topic Call a friend and explain to them what you want to write about. Explain it to them in plain English, with simple words. It should take about 5 to 10 minutes. Call a friend and explain to them what you want to write about.At the end of the discussion, they should have learned something valuable and know what to do to apply it in his business or life. What will this discussion do for you? First, you will quickly notice whether your idea is good or not. When the idea is still abstract, itââ¬â¢s hard to imagine what the article will look like exactly. But when you start putting words on the idea, you bring it to life. You may realize after two minutes of babbling that the content sounds bland, or that it looks like rehashed content. In this case, itââ¬â¢s better to move on and focus on a different idea. Second, it will give you a rough outline of the article. Record the discussion with friend, so that you can listen to yourself and take notes of what you said. These notes will be of a great help when it comes the time to write your outline. Finally, you will get a quick feedback from your friend. Ask him to be brutally honest with you and tell you what he thinks of this idea. If you donââ¬â¢t have any friends, you can just create an imaginary friend and still record yourself. Try to imagine questions they might have and reply to them. Back To Table Of Contents Write a Detailed Outline This step is the most important one of the system. If you take the time to write a long and detailed outline, you will gain a ton of time down the line. Not only will you gain time, but youââ¬â¢ll also make your life a lot easier. A good detailed outline allows you to: Write your first draft easily and quickly. No risk of writerââ¬â¢s block. Avoid wasting timeà iterating again and again on your article. Make sure your article is compellingà before even starting to write it. Iââ¬â¢m not talking about a short outline with five bullet points and you move on. For example, the outline I wrote for this articleà is 1,500-word long and it took me about an hour to write it. More if you count previous failed attempts. I was really unhappy with my first outlines, I knew it would end up with a crappy article, so I restarted, until I was satisfied with it. I would rather waste one hour rewriting a good outline than crafting a poor article, or waste five hours on a bad first draft. I would rather waste one hour rewriting a good outline than crafting a poor article, or waste five...Once you get your outline right, all the rest is easier. Writing the first draft, which most writers dread to do, becomes automatic. I just open my outline, look at where I am, read a few lines, expand them for the draft, and thatââ¬â¢s it. Simple. There are three steps to writing the perfect outline: Write down the structure. Explain what each subsection is about. Write down all the examples/stories/pictures you want to add. Getting your outline right makes writing easier.Step #1. Write Down the Structure. The first step is basically what everyone else do when they draw an outline. They write bullet points that look like headlines, and thatââ¬â¢s it. Itââ¬â¢s important to get it right because the structure is what your reader will try to identify right when they discover your article by skimming through it. Are there logical steps between the sections? What order are they in? Is this a step-by-step system, or are there chronological events? Are the sections balanced? Should you break them down into subsections? Most of the time, this step wonââ¬â¢t be a problem, but donââ¬â¢t rush it. Step #2. Explain What Each Section Is About. Now we do the extra work that will make you gain a ton of time down the line. For each section, describe in a few paragraphs what it is about. What will you explain in it? What are the key pieces of information you need to write? Can you describe your solution in a few lines? What problem is it solving? How would you describe it to your friend? Youââ¬â¢re basically putting on paper all the information that your article will contain. Someone reading your outline at this point should need precisely what you will talk about, and even what you will teach to your readers. But information alone is useless if you canââ¬â¢t get people to take action. Thatââ¬â¢s why you also need to â⬠¦ Step #3. Write Down All the Examples/Stories/Pictures You Can Think Of. Each piece of information you give in your article needs to be illustrated by at least an example, a story, a picture, or at least an explanation in plain English. This will help you reader: To understand better what youââ¬â¢re talking about. To relateà to your writing thanks to the stories. To get inspired to take action. Think of yourself as an interior designer. You could spend hours describing a bedroom to your client without them really getting it. Or you could show him a picture and make a sale right away. As Michael Ellsberg put it, "Your competitive advantage is not information, itââ¬â¢s transformation."à And transformation happens with stories. I like to think of this of my articles as 20% information, 80% transformation. For each information you give, write down as many examples, stories and pictures ideas as possible. They might not all end up in your article, but for now, more is better. Once you have done these three steps, you have a structured and highly detailed outline of your article. In fact, you might feel the post is almost already done. All you need is to fill in the holes, but really, all the creativeà part is done. Thatââ¬â¢s why you wonââ¬â¢t have any issue with writerââ¬â¢s block. Itââ¬â¢s now time to expand your outline and make it even better with some extra research. Recommended Reading: This Is The Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content To The Next Level Back To Table Of Contents Do Research You may be surprised to see research appearing in step #4, after we draw the outline and already placed all the elements of our article. Here is the thing: Research is not supposed to help you know what to write in your article.à It is only supposed to help you enrichà what you have already written. When you draw your outline before doing any research, you make sure that what you write is from your unique perspective and that you bring something new to the internet. If you do the research before and start reading dozens of other related articles, chances are that your final article will be a mix of everything you just read. Say goodbye your personal experience and unique perspective, because it just got spoiled by everyone elseââ¬â¢s wisdom. So, how to do your research without wasting hours browsing endlessly? To make research efficient, you need to have a specific question to answer. Before even starting the research, I will go through each section of my outline and ask naive questions out of curiosity. I put myself in the mind of my reader and try to imagine everything he could ask himself: ââ¬Å"How can I do that concretely?â⬠ââ¬Å"Why is this true? I donââ¬â¢t understand.ââ¬Å" ââ¬Å"How many are there?â⬠ââ¬Å"Are there any tool to do that?â⬠Of course, those questions are highly context-dependent. You need to have an open mind, like a curious child who wants to know everything. This is the first part of the research. A second part involves backing up your claims. Every time you claim something, you need data, research, or at least a reference that supports what youââ¬â¢re saying. Make a list of all your claims, and come back to Google to find research that supports them. At least, try to find another blog post from a recognized expert that says the same. This will also help you later to promote your post. By doing targeted research on a specific question or claim, you make sure not to browse the internet for ever. Save time researching by asking specific questions. Back To Table Of Contents Write Your First Draft This is normally the hardest step of the process for any common content marketer. But if youââ¬â¢re here, youââ¬â¢re not that common, especially if you start using this system. Because you wrote such a detailed and complete outline, writing your first draft will be one of the easiest step. You already have the structure and all the information written. The only thing thatââ¬â¢s left is expanding on the list of stories and examples you already provided. Explaining a single example or telling a story is easy. You do it all the time all day long with your friends. Replicate the process and youââ¬â¢ll be done in no time. The only difficulty you might face is not succeeding in finding the right words to explain your point. It happens. But donââ¬â¢t worry about this too much. When you write your first draft, donââ¬â¢t try to be perfect right away. Simply write, expand, explain as much as possible, ramble, and just put your own words on things. The end result is not supposed to be your final version. When you write your first draft, donââ¬â¢t try to be perfect right away.We will edit the article in the next section. There are two essential rules for writing your first draft if you want to make it quick and easy: Write as much as possible without ever stopping. Donââ¬â¢t stop. Donââ¬â¢t hold yourself. Never edit. Never come back. Here is a tip: Never use the backspace key. When writing your first draft, focus exclusively on getting the writing done, no matter what. Donââ¬â¢t care about quality and donââ¬â¢t edit at the same time. If you apply this advice, not only will writing be a lot easier, but also a lot faster. Keep writing, donââ¬â¢t worry about grammar mistakes or rambling, just keep writing, until done. With this technique, you can easily write 1,000 words in 30 minutes. Once you get used to it, you can write even faster. Back To Table Of Contents Edit Your First Draft After finishing your first draft, your article will not be beautiful to see. Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, calls it the shitty first draft. Thatââ¬â¢s exactly what it is. You let your creativity shine and created everything you needed for the article. Maybe even a little bit too much. Here are the steps for editing: Open a new blank document. Filter out each paragraph with a set of questions and rewrite it better. Pass the article in an editing tool. Print the article and read it out loud. Step #1: Open a new blank document. This step as rather self-explanatory. I noticed that when I donââ¬â¢t do it, I start to get bored in the middle of the task and skip entire paragraphs to finish as fast as possible. So, now, I open a new document and make sure I go through everything. This is a bit longer, of course, but itââ¬â¢s worth taking the time, as the step is what will make your article flawless. Step #2: Filter out each paragraph and rewrite it better. The goal of the editing part is to remove any unessential part and to rewrite better whatââ¬â¢s essential. You probably know that longer articles perform better in general, but it doesnââ¬â¢t mean you should look for writing the longest possible articles. In fact, itââ¬â¢s quite the opposite. Your final article should be shorter than your first draft, not longer. Try to cut your article as much as possible, to make it dense, comprehensive, without any rambling or unessential explanation. Make your point, illustrate it, and move on quickly. For each paragraph I ask myself the following questions: Is this essentialà in my article? What would happen if I remove this paragraph? Am I just rambling too much on this story? If it happens the paragraph is an essential one, then I try to improve it: How can I make myself clearer? Can I add a picture or an example to illustrate it? How could I tell this story in a shorter and more compelling way? Am I using simple words that normal people use? Once I have answered them, I can rewrite the paragraph. Notice that it looks like a long process, especially if you have hundreds of paragraphs. If youââ¬â¢re not used to it, it will take you some time at the beginning, but you will quickly learn to automatically ask these questions and decide in seconds if you need to remove the paragraph or improve it. Recommended Reading: 6 Super Easy Content Editing Tricks That Will Save You Oodles Of Time Step #3. Pass the article into an editing tool. In the previous step, you made the major work of editing. You rewrote everything and now the article is a lot better. If you want to go the extra mile, you can copy/paste your article into an editor such as Grammarlyà (you will need to paid version to get access to the editing tools) or the Hemingway App. The goal of this step is to make edits you couldnââ¬â¢t easily notice before to improve the readability of your article: Are you writing too complex sentences? Are you using too many adverbs? Are you using passive voice too frequently? Are you repeating the same words too often? (Use WordCounterà for that) This step should be a lot quicker, mostly because the tool tells you exactly where to look at and what to do. Step #4. Print the article and read it out loud. Finally, the last step may surprise you: Print the article and read it out loud. Editing Tip: Print your articles and read them out loud.There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you read an article on paper, you have a different view on it that when reading on a screen. Especially, you can spot the grammar mistakes a lot more easily. The second is that by reading out loud, you will immediately spot the awkward or too complex phrasing. On the internet, we want to keep the writing simple and quick to read. Basically, you almost want to write as youââ¬â¢re speaking. So if it sounds weird when you say it out loud, it might just sound as weird for your readers. Thatââ¬â¢s it for the editing! I must admit I donââ¬â¢t do all four steps for every article. Theyââ¬â¢re a little bit long, so itââ¬â¢ll depend on how much time you want to invest in your article. Back To Table Of Contents Polish Everything The last step is for the last details. Improve your headline. When we started the article, we picked a headline and didnââ¬â¢t really work on it. I donââ¬â¢t recommend doing it before writing the article, as the content might change as you make progress on it. Now is the time to perfect it. I wonââ¬â¢t go into details on how to write a good headline, but aim for a score of 70% or higher with the Headline Analyzer. Pick a feature image. You will need one to show up when people share your article on social media. Itââ¬â¢s usually a good idea to put the title of your post on it to catch peopleââ¬â¢s attention. Build a content upgrade. A content upgrade is a lead magnet you offer as an incentive for people to subscribe to your email list. It is something built especially for the article and is a logical add-on to the article that people who liked the article will want to have. It could be a checklist, a cheat sheet, a spreadsheet, a system, a PDF version of the article, etc. There are many ways to build content upgrades. Craft your CTA. You will also need to craft a compelling CTA to sellà your content upgrade. Itââ¬â¢s worth taking the time to write a really good one, as it can be the difference between a successful and a failed article. Recommended Reading: How To Write A Call To Action In A Template With 6 Examples Take care of SEO. Iââ¬â¢m usually not highly focused on SEO, but before publishing an article, I try to get as many green lights as possible with the Yoast SEO plugin. Hit publish. And youââ¬â¢re done! Weââ¬â¢ve now gone through the entire system to publish a top-notch article. The good thing about this system is that the simple fact of following it virtually guarantee that your article will stand out from the rest, as almost nobody else uses such a complete framework. How To Publish Remarkable Content Every Week With Limited Time Do you know why top bloggers like Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, or Tim Ferriss are so successful? Itââ¬â¢s because they create remarkable content. Every single time. Focusing on creating high quality content will: Turn you into a respected expert, like it did for Neil Patel or Ramit Sethi. Help you build a loyal fan base, like it did for and their 100k subscribers. Open up huge opportunities for your business. In this article, I will walk you through a step-by-step system to write remarkable content, from beginning to end, even if your time is limited. How to Publish Remarkable Content Every Week (Even if Your Time is Limited)It has become common advice nowadays that you should publish at least once a week. Less than that, people will forget you, and so will Google. More than that, people will love you more, meaning theyââ¬â¢ll buy more from you. It is not true. First, publishing more can actually be counter-productive, as this study from à showed. Second, your publication frequency wonââ¬â¢t matter if you publish crap. You watch Neil Patel and notice he publishes about three times a week. But every time itââ¬â¢s a compelling article filled with a ton of research and data. Each article he publishes is incredibly valuable, so itââ¬â¢s no surprise he gets hundreds of comments. So, if you have a lot of time, definitely go for publishing more. But if your time is limited, focus on quality rather than quantity. Are you committed to publishing only high-quality articles? Table Of Contents Make the Best of Your Limited Time Your Step-by-Step System To Virtually Guarantee Top-Notch Content Decide On A Topic Explain Your Topic Write A Detailed Outline Do Research Write Your First Draft Edit Your First Draft Polish Everything Create Great Content Faster With These Free Resources Download these time-saving resources to create great content easily and efficiently, every time you write. A Time Management Strategies checklist to make the most of your time. A Daily Task Planning template to plan your work each day. A How to Plan a Blog Post in 10 Minutes checklist to prep your posts fast. A Blog Post Writing Process Checklist to make sure your content is exceptional, every time. Make the Best of Your Limited Time Before jumping into the details of creating remarkable content, you need to make sure that you make the best of your limited time. This section is about setting yourself up for success for the system you will learn in the rest of the article. Think of it as the foundations: If you get this right, nothing can stop you. Recommended Reading: The Top 101 Marketing Time Management Strategies You Need To Succeed Back To Table Of Contents Pick a Consistent Time Letââ¬â¢s face it: writing is hard. Thatââ¬â¢s something we tend to postpone time and time again just because weââ¬â¢d rather do easier stuff for our business. But at the end of the day, you need to write. And if you want to create good content on a consistent basis, you need to be serious about it and write every day. The best way to write every day is to pick a consistent time in your day. The best way to write every day is to pick a consistent time.Think of it as non-negotiable, as if it were an appointment to the doctor. For example, every day between 6:30 and 7:30, I write. Thatââ¬â¢s my consistent time. I make sure I never miss it by waking up early and by never allowing anyone to disturb me. Pick a Consistent Place To write every day, you need to build a writing habit. To write every day, you need to build a writing habit.Habits appear when you repeat the same behavior in the same context. Thatââ¬â¢s why I recommend you always write at the same place to build your writing habit. This will make you a lot more efficient and also increase your chances to actually do it and donââ¬â¢t get distracted by external factors. Build Your Own Writing Routine To help you stick to the habit, try to take a few steps before starting to make it more enjoyable. It could be: A special music playlist for writing. Making yourself a cup of tea or coffee before starting. Any specific set of actions you will always do and enjoy before writing. Make sure you enjoy doing it and that you can do it every day. This will act as the trigger of your writing habit. Doing it time and time again will help get in the mood for writing. After a while, it makes your brain switch in writing mode a lot faster. Set up a Robust Automated System I donââ¬â¢t know many habits that are harder to stick to than writing daily. While the previous points will help you do it more consistently, you need to build a solid system around them to make sure they wonââ¬â¢t fail you. What does it mean? First, it means writing it down. For example, since Iââ¬â¢m working during the day for my day job, I schedule my writing time in the morning, with the other tasks of my business: This is non-negotiable time that I will NEVER give to anyone. Second, I track my writing by writing every day how many words I wrote and about what. I do this in a Google Spreadsheet and then automatically create a simple chart to show how much Iââ¬â¢m writing week after week. This helps to quickly see when youââ¬â¢re falling off your habit. For example, you can notice two weeks near the end of the graph where I was busy doing other stuff. Fortunately, I caught myself up and fixed it. I find this is a good way to stay motivated and create even more content. Get an Accountability Partner You could try to do by yourself, but there is nothing better than someone else to kick your a** when youââ¬â¢re slacking off. Slacking off? Get an accountability partner to kick your a**.With my accountability partner, we both fill up a spreadsheet with all our weekly tasks (including writing): For each day, we write whether the task is ââ¬Å"TODOâ⬠, already ââ¬Å"Doneâ⬠, or has been ââ¬Å"Failedâ⬠. Itââ¬â¢s a great way to not only focus on the right tasks, but also to have someone else look at what youââ¬â¢re doing and give you honest feedback on how you could do better. Schedule Your Writing Tasks You know that creating a blog post is not just about writing. Creating a blog post is not just about writing.Itââ¬â¢s also researching, editing, polishing, making pictures, brainstorming headlines, etc. But then, you may stop writing for a few days for those non-writing tasks. It breaks your habit and makes it harder to start another article then. There are two solutions for this problem. The first is to use a schedule that allows you to work on multiple articles simultaneously. When you edit your first article, start the second one at the same time. Thatââ¬â¢s exactly what they do at Buffer: The second solution is to write other things than blog posts: newsletters, sales pages, email funnels, video scripts, etc. This is a good way to not be overwhelmed by too many articles at the same time, and it breaks the routine of only writing blog posts. Recommended Reading: This Is The Ultimate Blog Writing Process To Create Killer Posts Make Sure You Never Run Out of Ideas Letââ¬â¢s say youââ¬â¢ve been writing every day for a while and never missed a day. What if, for tomorrowââ¬â¢s writing sessionâ⬠¦ You have nothing to write. No more blog post ideas. Not good ones, at least. Meeting such an issue could mess a lot with your writing habit and call it an end. You can anticipate this problem by generating enough ideas to never run out. There are two approaches. Generate enough ideas to never run out.The first one is to generate one idea per day. One idea. Itââ¬â¢s easy, right? It takes 5 minutes, you do it every day, as a habit, for example right before you start writing. By doing so, you will generate more ideas than you can write about. James Altucher, the master of finding ideas, wrote that ââ¬Å"Quality is a byproduct of Quantityâ⬠. From your list of ideas, you can extract only the best ones, and get rid of the rest. The second approach is to take one day per week (or per month, depending on how many ideas you find) to generate a huge list of ideas. Same principle. It depends if youââ¬â¢re better at batching your task all at once, or making small progress every day. These were the foundations for your writing habits. You have all your systems in place to make sure you never fail and make the best out of your limited time. What follows is how to create top-notch content ... the easy way! Recommended Reading: 150+ Blog Ideas That Will Absolutely Kill Writers' Block Back To Table Of Contents Your Step-by-Step System To Virtually Guarantee Top-Notch Content Writing top-notch content can take dozens of hours if you donââ¬â¢t systematize your approach. The most common mistake beginners do is to write, iterate, iterate again, and keep iterating again until satisfied. This leads to perfectionism and makes you waste hours. Perfectionism wastes hours.Instead, in this article, I will give you a step-by-step system that will: Make writing a lot easierà for you. Make writing a lot fasterà for you. Make sure that at the end of the process you have an article that stands out from the competition. The big picture of the system looks like this: Decide on a topic. Explain your topic in simple words. Write a detailed outline for your topic. Make research. Write your first draft. Edit your first draft. Polish everything. Make a picture out of this? Notice how different it is than what most people are doing. Most bloggers decide for a topic, write the article, fix the grammar mistakes, and publish. With my system, you will take the time to front-load the work. This will not only make you gain a lot of time but also and also make sure you create really great content. I wonââ¬â¢t make you wait longer, so letââ¬â¢s jump right in with step #1: Decide on a Topic Your first step is to decide on a broad topic. It might start with an idea of yours, a question from your readers, or an article youââ¬â¢ve read on another blog. You donââ¬â¢t know yet if this will be a really good article or not. Itââ¬â¢s just a topic that popped in your mind, and you wonder whether itââ¬â¢ll be good or not. Here are some examples of topics I have in mind: How to use guest blogging to grow your email list from 0 to 1,000 subscribers. What cold showers and writing have in common? Why you donââ¬â¢t need to be a creative person to be a good writer. Notice they look like headlines, though I havenââ¬â¢t taken the time to optimize them. Weââ¬â¢ll take care of that only when the article is done. By the way, I strongly recommend you keep a list of all your topic ideas somewhere in your computer. Ideas come and go, so you better write them down if you want to remember them and make sure you donââ¬â¢t run out of it. Recommended Reading: The Skyscraper Technique May Actually Improve Your Content Marketing Back To Table Of Contents Explain Your Topic Call a friend and explain to them what you want to write about. Explain it to them in plain English, with simple words. It should take about 5 to 10 minutes. Call a friend and explain to them what you want to write about.At the end of the discussion, they should have learned something valuable and know what to do to apply it in his business or life. What will this discussion do for you? First, you will quickly notice whether your idea is good or not. When the idea is still abstract, itââ¬â¢s hard to imagine what the article will look like exactly. But when you start putting words on the idea, you bring it to life. You may realize after two minutes of babbling that the content sounds bland, or that it looks like rehashed content. In this case, itââ¬â¢s better to move on and focus on a different idea. Second, it will give you a rough outline of the article. Record the discussion with friend, so that you can listen to yourself and take notes of what you said. These notes will be of a great help when it comes the time to write your outline. Finally, you will get a quick feedback from your friend. Ask him to be brutally honest with you and tell you what he thinks of this idea. If you donââ¬â¢t have any friends, you can just create an imaginary friend and still record yourself. Try to imagine questions they might have and reply to them. Back To Table Of Contents Write a Detailed Outline This step is the most important one of the system. If you take the time to write a long and detailed outline, you will gain a ton of time down the line. Not only will you gain time, but youââ¬â¢ll also make your life a lot easier. A good detailed outline allows you to: Write your first draft easily and quickly. No risk of writerââ¬â¢s block. Avoid wasting timeà iterating again and again on your article. Make sure your article is compellingà before even starting to write it. Iââ¬â¢m not talking about a short outline with five bullet points and you move on. For example, the outline I wrote for this articleà is 1,500-word long and it took me about an hour to write it. More if you count previous failed attempts. I was really unhappy with my first outlines, I knew it would end up with a crappy article, so I restarted, until I was satisfied with it. I would rather waste one hour rewriting a good outline than crafting a poor article, or waste five hours on a bad first draft. I would rather waste one hour rewriting a good outline than crafting a poor article, or waste five...Once you get your outline right, all the rest is easier. Writing the first draft, which most writers dread to do, becomes automatic. I just open my outline, look at where I am, read a few lines, expand them for the draft, and thatââ¬â¢s it. Simple. There are three steps to writing the perfect outline: Write down the structure. Explain what each subsection is about. Write down all the examples/stories/pictures you want to add. Getting your outline right makes writing easier.Step #1. Write Down the Structure. The first step is basically what everyone else do when they draw an outline. They write bullet points that look like headlines, and thatââ¬â¢s it. Itââ¬â¢s important to get it right because the structure is what your reader will try to identify right when they discover your article by skimming through it. Are there logical steps between the sections? What order are they in? Is this a step-by-step system, or are there chronological events? Are the sections balanced? Should you break them down into subsections? Most of the time, this step wonââ¬â¢t be a problem, but donââ¬â¢t rush it. Step #2. Explain What Each Section Is About. Now we do the extra work that will make you gain a ton of time down the line. For each section, describe in a few paragraphs what it is about. What will you explain in it? What are the key pieces of information you need to write? Can you describe your solution in a few lines? What problem is it solving? How would you describe it to your friend? Youââ¬â¢re basically putting on paper all the information that your article will contain. Someone reading your outline at this point should need precisely what you will talk about, and even what you will teach to your readers. But information alone is useless if you canââ¬â¢t get people to take action. Thatââ¬â¢s why you also need to â⬠¦ Step #3. Write Down All the Examples/Stories/Pictures You Can Think Of. Each piece of information you give in your article needs to be illustrated by at least an example, a story, a picture, or at least an explanation in plain English. This will help you reader: To understand better what youââ¬â¢re talking about. To relateà to your writing thanks to the stories. To get inspired to take action. Think of yourself as an interior designer. You could spend hours describing a bedroom to your client without them really getting it. Or you could show him a picture and make a sale right away. As Michael Ellsberg put it, "Your competitive advantage is not information, itââ¬â¢s transformation."à And transformation happens with stories. I like to think of this of my articles as 20% information, 80% transformation. For each information you give, write down as many examples, stories and pictures ideas as possible. They might not all end up in your article, but for now, more is better. Once you have done these three steps, you have a structured and highly detailed outline of your article. In fact, you might feel the post is almost already done. All you need is to fill in the holes, but really, all the creativeà part is done. Thatââ¬â¢s why you wonââ¬â¢t have any issue with writerââ¬â¢s block. Itââ¬â¢s now time to expand your outline and make it even better with some extra research. Recommended Reading: This Is The Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content To The Next Level Back To Table Of Contents Do Research You may be surprised to see research appearing in step #4, after we draw the outline and already placed all the elements of our article. Here is the thing: Research is not supposed to help you know what to write in your article.à It is only supposed to help you enrichà what you have already written. When you draw your outline before doing any research, you make sure that what you write is from your unique perspective and that you bring something new to the internet. If you do the research before and start reading dozens of other related articles, chances are that your final article will be a mix of everything you just read. Say goodbye your personal experience and unique perspective, because it just got spoiled by everyone elseââ¬â¢s wisdom. So, how to do your research without wasting hours browsing endlessly? To make research efficient, you need to have a specific question to answer. Before even starting the research, I will go through each section of my outline and ask naive questions out of curiosity. I put myself in the mind of my reader and try to imagine everything he could ask himself: ââ¬Å"How can I do that concretely?â⬠ââ¬Å"Why is this true? I donââ¬â¢t understand.ââ¬Å" ââ¬Å"How many are there?â⬠ââ¬Å"Are there any tool to do that?â⬠Of course, those questions are highly context-dependent. You need to have an open mind, like a curious child who wants to know everything. This is the first part of the research. A second part involves backing up your claims. Every time you claim something, you need data, research, or at least a reference that supports what youââ¬â¢re saying. Make a list of all your claims, and come back to Google to find research that supports them. At least, try to find another blog post from a recognized expert that says the same. This will also help you later to promote your post. By doing targeted research on a specific question or claim, you make sure not to browse the internet for ever. Save time researching by asking specific questions. Back To Table Of Contents Write Your First Draft This is normally the hardest step of the process for any common content marketer. But if youââ¬â¢re here, youââ¬â¢re not that common, especially if you start using this system. Because you wrote such a detailed and complete outline, writing your first draft will be one of the easiest step. You already have the structure and all the information written. The only thing thatââ¬â¢s left is expanding on the list of stories and examples you already provided. Explaining a single example or telling a story is easy. You do it all the time all day long with your friends. Replicate the process and youââ¬â¢ll be done in no time. The only difficulty you might face is not succeeding in finding the right words to explain your point. It happens. But donââ¬â¢t worry about this too much. When you write your first draft, donââ¬â¢t try to be perfect right away. Simply write, expand, explain as much as possible, ramble, and just put your own words on things. The end result is not supposed to be your final version. When you write your first draft, donââ¬â¢t try to be perfect right away.We will edit the article in the next section. There are two essential rules for writing your first draft if you want to make it quick and easy: Write as much as possible without ever stopping. Donââ¬â¢t stop. Donââ¬â¢t hold yourself. Never edit. Never come back. Here is a tip: Never use the backspace key. When writing your first draft, focus exclusively on getting the writing done, no matter what. Donââ¬â¢t care about quality and donââ¬â¢t edit at the same time. If you apply this advice, not only will writing be a lot easier, but also a lot faster. Keep writing, donââ¬â¢t worry about grammar mistakes or rambling, just keep writing, until done. With this technique, you can easily write 1,000 words in 30 minutes. Once you get used to it, you can write even faster. Back To Table Of Contents Edit Your First Draft After finishing your first draft, your article will not be beautiful to see. Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, calls it the shitty first draft. Thatââ¬â¢s exactly what it is. You let your creativity shine and created everything you needed for the article. Maybe even a little bit too much. Here are the steps for editing: Open a new blank document. Filter out each paragraph with a set of questions and rewrite it better. Pass the article in an editing tool. Print the article and read it out loud. Step #1: Open a new blank document. This step as rather self-explanatory. I noticed that when I donââ¬â¢t do it, I start to get bored in the middle of the task and skip entire paragraphs to finish as fast as possible. So, now, I open a new document and make sure I go through everything. This is a bit longer, of course, but itââ¬â¢s worth taking the time, as the step is what will make your article flawless. Step #2: Filter out each paragraph and rewrite it better. The goal of the editing part is to remove any unessential part and to rewrite better whatââ¬â¢s essential. You probably know that longer articles perform better in general, but it doesnââ¬â¢t mean you should look for writing the longest possible articles. In fact, itââ¬â¢s quite the opposite. Your final article should be shorter than your first draft, not longer. Try to cut your article as much as possible, to make it dense, comprehensive, without any rambling or unessential explanation. Make your point, illustrate it, and move on quickly. For each paragraph I ask myself the following questions: Is this essentialà in my article? What would happen if I remove this paragraph? Am I just rambling too much on this story? If it happens the paragraph is an essential one, then I try to improve it: How can I make myself clearer? Can I add a picture or an example to illustrate it? How could I tell this story in a shorter and more compelling way? Am I using simple words that normal people use? Once I have answered them, I can rewrite the paragraph. Notice that it looks like a long process, especially if you have hundreds of paragraphs. If youââ¬â¢re not used to it, it will take you some time at the beginning, but you will quickly learn to automatically ask these questions and decide in seconds if you need to remove the paragraph or improve it. Recommended Reading: 6 Super Easy Content Editing Tricks That Will Save You Oodles Of Time Step #3. Pass the article into an editing tool. In the previous step, you made the major work of editing. You rewrote everything and now the article is a lot better. If you want to go the extra mile, you can copy/paste your article into an editor such as Grammarlyà (you will need to paid version to get access to the editing tools) or the Hemingway App. The goal of this step is to make edits you couldnââ¬â¢t easily notice before to improve the readability of your article: Are you writing too complex sentences? Are you using too many adverbs? Are you using passive voice too frequently? Are you repeating the same words too often? (Use WordCounterà for that) This step should be a lot quicker, mostly because the tool tells you exactly where to look at and what to do. Step #4. Print the article and read it out loud. Finally, the last step may surprise you: Print the article and read it out loud. Editing Tip: Print your articles and read them out loud.There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you read an article on paper, you have a different view on it that when reading on a screen. Especially, you can spot the grammar mistakes a lot more easily. The second is that by reading out loud, you will immediately spot the awkward or too complex phrasing. On the internet, we want to keep the writing simple and quick to read. Basically, you almost want to write as youââ¬â¢re speaking. So if it sounds weird when you say it out loud, it might just sound as weird for your readers. Thatââ¬â¢s it for the editing! I must admit I donââ¬â¢t do all four steps for every article. Theyââ¬â¢re a little bit long, so itââ¬â¢ll depend on how much time you want to invest in your article. Back To Table Of Contents Polish Everything The last step is for the last details. Improve your headline. When we started the article, we picked a headline and didnââ¬â¢t really work on it. I donââ¬â¢t recommend doing it before writing the article, as the content might change as you make progress on it. Now is the time to perfect it. I wonââ¬â¢t go into details on how to write a good headline, but aim for a score of 70% or higher with the Headline Analyzer. Pick a feature image. You will need one to show up when people share your article on social media. Itââ¬â¢s usually a good idea to put the title of your post on it to catch peopleââ¬â¢s attention. Build a content upgrade. A content upgrade is a lead magnet you offer as an incentive for people to subscribe to your email list. It is something built especially for the article and is a logical add-on to the article that people who liked the article will want to have. It could be a checklist, a cheat sheet, a spreadsheet, a system, a PDF version of the article, etc. There are many ways to build content upgrades. Craft your CTA. You will also need to craft a compelling CTA to sellà your content upgrade. Itââ¬â¢s worth taking the time to write a really good one, as it can be the difference between a successful and a failed article. Recommended Reading: How To Write A Call To Action In A Template With 6 Examples Take care of SEO. Iââ¬â¢m usually not highly focused on SEO, but before publishing an article, I try to get as many green lights as possible with the Yoast SEO plugin. Hit publish. And youââ¬â¢re done! Weââ¬â¢ve now gone through the entire system to publish a top-notch article. The good thing about this system is that the simple fact of following it virtually guarantee that your article will stand out from the rest, as almost nobody else uses such a complete framework.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Ethical eaasy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Ethical eaasy - Essay Example The textile materials treated by these chemicals have been banned in the markets in UK and US and so the organization resorts to selling its stock to the developing markets where there is no such legislation. The ethical dilemma in this problem The management of the organization had to make a decision between certain courses of action. There was an option of disposing the products that have been considered not fit for use and manufacture those that are required in the US and UK markets. There is also an option of looking for markets for the products in other regions that have no such regulations. The decision-making in the above case is bound by certain significant constraints. The initial problem that had ethical implications here is that the organization had already produced stock that was treated with carcinogenic agent. The organization did not want to run at a loss by disposing these products. The operations of the organization are also governed by the local, regional, and inter national regulations and a ban on such products in some countries will apply to this organization. Besides, there is also a need to consider the adverse effects of the products that led to its ban in these developed markets and whether it is ethical to introduce into the underdeveloped markets faulty products that have been rejected in the developed markets. ... It was then regarded unethical for a business organization to involve in the well-being of the society. In 1984, Edward Freeman proposed the Stakeholder theory that the objective of business is not only to maximize the shareholdersââ¬â¢ profits but also to serve the interests of all the stakeholders of the organization (Crane & Matten, 2007, p.57). Stakeholders include all those parties influencing or affected by the decisions and operations of the organization and so the society is one such stakeholder. In solving such ethical dilemmas, we need to refer to the ethical theories that had been developed in moral philosophies like virtue theory (Aristotle), utilitarianism (Bentham), Immanuel Kantââ¬â¢s Universal law, and the Religious teachings among the other theories. The utilitarian approach will consider the consequences that a given decision will have on all the stakeholders of the organization including the shareholders (Petrick & Quinn, 1997, p.48). The products have been f ound to be contaminated with agents causing cancer. Selling these products to the consumers in the developing market is equivalent to exposing the consumers to cancerous agents. The overall costs to be incurred in managing the resulting cancer are unpredictably high and will be a threat to the economy. The developing markets may also not afford the same prices forcing the organization to lower its product prices thereby reducing the profits. Besides, a long-term effect will also be seen in its reputation in the emerging market should it be later known that the products were not fit. The organization will soon lose its position even in the emerging markets. Thus, the
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Value Chain Framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Value Chain Framework - Essay Example The main changes are that at this value chain sophistication level, the companyââ¬â¢s reliance on ERP for provision of Value chain support has been reduced and has initiated the utilisation of more BOB solutions for provision of more-advanced functionality. House-sourced technology tends to have been slightly increased within the stage as well. Here, companies develop specific applications for supplementing the core ERP functionality. Within this level, the amount of outsourced technology reduces the typically reduced functionality of some SCM SaaS solutions is deemed to be too functionally light, and on-premises BOBs are preferred. (Dua et al., 2011) Despite investing for growth, companies are aware that the disruption potential at any time does not vanish. Many work towards improving their Value chainsââ¬â¢ resiliency for this risk mitigation. The past year brought about disruptions of global-scale Value chain which impacted multiple industries, right from chemicals to semiconductors as well as electronics to automotive. Increase in demand uncertainty as well as much more complex global Value networks reliant on high-risk geographic zones placed added pressures on Value chainsââ¬â¢ ability to deliver results that are predictable. The disruptions have even called into question if Value chains have become too lean, requiring an essential approach change. (Shoanen and Joseph, 2004) In stormy times, as well as during the face of increasing risk and complexity, leading companies need more bearable, resilient Value chains which, support profitability and as well drive industry leadership. This necessitates that managers re-evaluate their Value network designs layout to ensure that they are made more resilient to future disasters. It may as well include designing products which, allow more flexibility in manufacturing and value, increasing long-term substitute sources of raw materials and logistics
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Website Evaulation of American Cancer Society Research Paper
Website Evaulation of American Cancer Society - Research Paper Example These factors include: authority, information, objectivity, ease of navigation, privacy and security policies (Harmon, J. et al., 2010). Authority is defined by the underlying permissions and operational approval that guide the website. The website is meant to reach out to all stakeholders outlined in the objectives of setting up the website. The website is however subject to communications and internet laws and regulations. The monitoring and regulation is set to ensure that the power and authority jurisdiction of the website is not taken outside the set limits. The website is rich in information about cancer and related health issues. Information that pertains to every activity undertaken by the American Cancer Society is displayed on the home page. Research and development undertakings in relation to cancer are outlined. There are also links to external information of central importance to all parties interested in learning about cancer and related health issues. Objectivity factor of the website is an interesting scenario. The presentation made on the website in relation to the undertakings of the American Cancer Society is primarily based on phenomena observed in the health sector. Emotional and/or personal prejudices do not seem to influence the intended purpose and objective of the website. However, views and opinions at personal level are taken through the website to enhance further development and responsiveness of American Cancer Society to cancer and other health issues. The websiteââ¬â¢s set up is development in such a way that best suits the user. Navigation from one link to another is clearly outlined. At the lower part of the web page, there are numerous quick links that are specific to the information that will be pulled up when the user clicks on that link. The page is simply developed, with clear
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Aldi Is A German Based Discount Retailer Chain Marketing Essay
Aldi Is A German Based Discount Retailer Chain Marketing Essay 1.Introduction: Aldi is a German based discount retailer chain establish in 18 countries. It is Europes largest retailer. Aldi got market in German, Australia, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, USA etcà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ Aldi is the abbreviation for ALbrecht DIscount. This is a private company , it has started in 1913 by Mrs Albrecht. But after the second World War it has been managed by her sons Theo and Karl. In 1963 Aldi has been divided into two companies (Aldi North and Aldi South), but both of them followed same business model and strategy. Germany is the only country in which both the companies operated. The company specialized by selling staple products , Aldi shop sells approximately 700 grocery and household products. Those are chilled foods, canned and frozen goods, baked goods, meat dairy products, household supplies and a special range of locally bought products which customers shopped for on a regular basis. Enterprise system is a software product designed to integrate computer systems that run all phases of an enterprises operations to facilitate cooperation and coordination of work across the enterprise. The intent is to integrate core business processes (such as sales, accounting, finance, human resources, inventory and manufacturing). Business strategy means a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal or set of goals. It states how business should be conduct to achieve the desired goals. We need to implement Enterprise System software in Aldi to successfully achieve those goals . 2 Main Body: 2.1 How could an Enterprise System support the business strategy of Aldi: 2.(1.1 ) Business Strategy of Aldi : Aldis one of the main business strategy is Top quality at incredibly low prices- guaranted and radical efficiencies without compromising product quality . Aldi selling top quality products but their price is comparatively lower than others because their buyers are expert in their field. They bring fresh fruits and vegetables straightway from farmers. Also, they buy them in big quantity. There is no middleman thats why they do not need to spend extra money. They negotiate with the hand-picked suppliers about substantial discount. There is a big savings .Also, there is no bagging facilities that means customers have to use their own bag or Aldi charges for bags. Moreover, there are staff limitations, three to five employees including cashier and manager at a time in each store. To avoid credit card company fees they refuse to accept credit card payments. They dont have any customer service facilities. By using those above methods they cut cost and provide cheap products. Aldi always careful about their product quality. If they find anything wrong about their product then straightway they give money back to customer by using product recall method. That means Aldi give an important notice to bring back that product or call customer service helpline to get their money back. Currently they got wrong with Gardenline Greenhouse and Conservatory Heater. They got some instance that the product could overheat and present a fire hazard. So, they stop to selling it and give a notice to take money back. Shopping cart retrieve system is another important strategy of Aldi. Aldi product is very cheap. So, we can buy all necessary products by spending few amounts of money. Because of that everybody need a cart to shop at Aldi store .If they get it easily then after shopping customers will leave it anywhere .Also, Aldi have to implement someone to organize them. It will be cost effective for Aldi. So, if customer want to retrieve a cart, they have to spend a coin but they will get it back when return that cart. Because of this strategy all carts are organized nicely and dont need anybody to look-after those. Texas stores open is another strategy of Aldi. Aldi expand their business with Texas. They open their first Texas store on Thursday 18th March 2010.Also, Aldi planned to open about 100 Texas stores by 2010. They open 11 shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 9 more shops open in April and another 7 by May. After that Texas becomes Western most state in those are operates by Aldi. Aldis action loudly says likely they will expand their business in southwest. For instance ,they have developed a line of Hispanic products for their Texas stores. They will serve those products in Arizona and New Mexico because there are large Hispanic populations. Another strategy of Aldi business is à à A new promotion campaign will be introduced over the next 4 months to encourage present customers to increase their use of Aldis products by 10%. This is about expand in existing market to maintain existing buyers. Promotional offer is their main tactic to attract customers. Aldi provide leaflet and newsletter to inform this offer. Their promotional offer is acceptable for customers. Offer is like buy one get one free of half price. Also, Thursday and Sunday special price. 2.(1.2) Competitor Analysis: There are some of the biggest competitors in the supermarket industry, those are Coles, IGA and Lidl . Working out competitors objectives gives the business a good idea of their current strategy and suggest what they will do in future. It is useful to know the relative importance that competitors place on profitability, sales volume and market share. This could give managers of the business insight into how competitors may react to their strategies. 2.(1.3) Strategy Formulation: In formulation, I am trying to modify the current strategies in ways to make the organization more successful. We already know about Aldis strategy and its environment, now strategic alternatives can be developed. Strategic alternatives depends on the current strategy of Aldi and the existing status that is experienced. There are several strategic alternatives that Aldi could undertake. First, they should keep improving mix product market. Another alternative is Aldi could consider to diverse their operations, like they can offer credit or debit cards payment. Third strategic option is that Aldi should do nothing to change their operation as it is currently working and complementing the external environment. Aldi has three strategic alternatives that totally complement their existing strategy and the initiatives taken in the market. There are three aspects of strategy formulation. Those are- corporate level strategy, competitive strategy and functional strategy. Corporate Level Strategy: In this aspect of strategy, we are concerned with broad decisions about the total Aldis scope and direction. Basically, we consider what changes should be made in our growth objective and strategy for achieving it, the lines of business we are in, and how these lines of business fit together. It is useful to think of three components of corporate level strategy: a) growth of directional strategy, b) portfolio strategy, c) parenting strategy Competitive Strategy: This involves deciding how Aldi will compete within each line of business (LOB) or strategic business unit (SBU). Functional Strategy: These more localized and shorter-horizon strategies deal with how each functional area and unit will carry out its functional activities to be effective and maximize resource productivity. 2.(1.4) Enterprise System Implementation: Enterprise system will provide real time information, enforce standards, helps to improve business process of the company. Enterprise system deliver as the backbone of an organizations information needs. It helps to improve business process and achieve fast connectivity with any branch, internally or externally data could be shared in real time. By using this software manager can monitor every aspect of the companys operations and performance .They can achieve their goal easily. Enterprise system software must make big changes in Aldis business process . It is enabling to better and faster decision making, reduce information reporting cost, decrease management hand-counts. Davenport point out in his book Mission Critical that, without implementing enterprise system it is impossible to do electronic commerce. If Aldi want to achieve worldwide market they need fast in time communication facilities. They only doing 2pages newsletter nothing else like online ordering or advertisement. They should start e-business, online information, home delivery. Successfully do the electronic business, Customer Relationship Management they need to adopt enterprise system software in their business. By using enterprise system software many organization in the world performed their business process. This system could help Aldi to achieve high levels of operational efficiency and will be able to respond more rapidly, deliver higher quality and improve cost efficiency. Aldi can access to ample data on both the market and internal operations. We can see the competitive difference comes from the analysis, interpretation and action depend on this data. Aldi can gain a strategic advantage by finding patterns and opportunities faster and deeper than competitors. To be a successful organization Aldi has to adopt changing circumstances and able to integrate and process information system. I think enterprise system is able to dramatically decrease transaction and communication costs. Whether the business core strength in efficient supply chain or superior customer service, instant visibility into key business process via service level agreement or performance metrics helps to achieve a competitive advantage in the World market. This software implementation cost is very high but it is important for long term success of the business. There is not any strong Enterprise System in Aldi Group. I think by implementing Enterprise system like CRM( Customer Relationship Management) system they can develop their business. 2.1.(4.1) Customer Relationship Management(CRM): CRM provides integrated functionality for marketing, sales, customer support and call centre requirements. Functions include- Call centre management, Sales force automation, Customer contact point management, Order entry and order tracking, Service management and content management. 2.1.4.(1.1) Call Centre Management: Aldi need to start call centre management system to improve their business strategy. Because consumers are very busy about their personnel life , they dont have any spare time. For that- sometimes customer try to find information about products availability, product quality and price by calling to customer service. Because there are many competitive markets , consumers got many choice. So, there is no point to spend time and extra money for same product. Understanding customer needs allows the organization to design customer-specific levels of service and track profitability at the customer level. They have to understand what is customers looking for. If the call centre management system is not good and all informations are not updated then customers will get wrong information. May be some times customers calling for information but nobody pick up the phone then they will loose the customer. This increase value per customer and customer retention. 2.1.4.(1.2) Sales force automation: Sales force automation (SFA) software is a type of program that automates business tasks such as inventory control, sales processing, and tracking of customer interactions, as well as analyzing sales forecasts and performance. Aldi need this for integration of sales and marketing to improve efficiency. Sometimes customers want to get timely and precise information about orders. When customer see there is delay about product deliver they need to know current situation. There need quick and reliable responses to all inquiries. Aldi have to be able to meet their commitment on time. If customers get any bad experience about commitment they will not come back again. They need frequent contract and follow-through facilities. 2.1.4.(1.3 )Customer contact point management: A contact point is the method a customer uses to communicate with a company. For instance , consider the different ways customer may interact an organization By visiting retail stores customers seek in-person assistance for their need and also discussion with company peoples. Fastest contact point is through the internet. Now-a-days electronic-commerce is most important method for purchasing certain types of products including music. Also, customers can contact with company personnel for companys financial issues. For instance, credit personnel help customer arrange the necessary funds to make a purchase. Aldi have to implement enterprise system to manage customer contact point. They need to start online ordering also, they should start to accept credit card payment. By providing these facilities they can achieve their goal. 2.1.4.(1.4) Order entry and order tracking: This is another method of CRM. When customer go for online shopping they need to open an account, they need authorization for online order and payment. Furthermore, customer can track their order by using their account. To improve Aldi business strategy they should provide order entry and order tracking facilities. Aldi will be able to attract more customer, increase their selling and profit. 2.1.4.(1.5) Service Management and Content Management: This is all about service and collection of procedures used to manage workflow in a collaborative environment. This procedures can be manual or computer based. CRM(Customer Relationship Management) system helps understanding customer needs, Aldi has to design customer-specific levels of service and track profitability at the customer level. This increase value per customer and customer retention. This system integrate sales and marketing to increase efficiency. Customers need timely and precise information about orders, quick and reliable responses to all inquiries, ability to meet scheduled commitments on time. CRM efficiency can be improved by providing current and important information to sales staff. Aldi can reduce sales calls, by sending e-mail, they can reduce communication costs, paper work costs, also integrated system decrease training costs. They can collect customer information by using web based and e-mail based tools. If Aldi start to use something like bonus card or club card, they will get overall idea about customer- which product customers like most, they can offer promotional items. It is easy way to attract customers to Aldi product. Customer Experience management (CEM) will provide autometed customer feedback. Customer can compare Aldi product with other company, easily find comparatively cheapest one. Aldi have to start all forms of trading like- direct, traditional, retail, e-commerce, wholesale, combination. Only then it is possible to make it world largest acceptable company. By using the Enterprise System software Aldi could fulfill their mission. Enterprise System will give information about them Customers will be able to know about Aldis efficiency, low price product, product quality, required product availability. Also, Manager can easily get overall idea about Aldi like- which product selling more, customers demand, which product need to be ordered more. Aldi got overseas business ,so it will be very easy and faster to get information about any branch in the world. They can do employee recruitment ,training, required staff in different Aldi branch, paying salary etcà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ 2.2 Barriers to implement Enterprise System in Aldi group: It is highly cost effective to implement Enterprise System in Aldi, because their main strategy is cheap price product supply. If they spend a lot of money implement Enterprise System they will not be able to sell product by cheap. The lack of clearly defined CRM strategies and support structures can burn organizations. Contemporary business strategy must realize how to filter the large data warehouses and integrate certain data into marketing and customer service strategy. Aldi have to face core problems to assess their strategy to the system, a number or actors are involved, internal and external staff. Staff need to be well trained to use the system otherwise it will upset customers that had their calls routed to wrong locations and increase call costs.It is not good enough to just plan resources required to run the enterprise, they need to be managed as well. 2.3 How Aldi can overcome from barriers: Aldi have to focus on staff training, order entry and call centre applications to seamlessly coordinate customer information from outside sales staff to inside customer support staff. This narrow focus enables Aldis staff to acclimate to the software quickly without feeling overwhelmed. Attaining goals in stages enable staff to take ownership of the systems and gather momentum for the new systems. They have to implement some specific trained staff to provide these facilities to the customer. 3 Conclusion: Aldi implemented good relationships with suppliers to ensure favorable prices over considerable quantities. With them, the business guarantees long-term commitments with producers which allow producing more in better conditions and cheaper, orders of whole lorries, saving of packaging costs. On the other hand, the consumers have a high power of negotiation because they are the target of several retailers. So they just have the choice to choose the one which suits to their budget. Aldi is Worldwide business company, so if they successfully implement Enterprise System in their business then it will support to establish their business strategy.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lawrence Durrells Zero and Asylum in the Snow :: Wallpaper Asylum gilman Durrell Essays
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lawrence Durrell's "Zero and Asylum in the Snow" Society is a close-knit unit of individuals who unknowingly conform to an ideal set by them. The ideal that I speak of is not set in stone, but is ever changing, as is society. This changing ideal appears to be threatened by individual thinkers who rebel against social norms and who refuse to support conformity. This rebellion is exemplified in "The Yellow Wallpaper," written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and in Lawrence Durrell's story, "Zero and Asylum in the Snow." These stories both involve characters that are labelled as sick in relation to the people who 'mesh' well with society. Society, however, has peculiar methods of healing these characters and succeeds only to force them further away from reality and deeper into a conscious dream world. 'Conscious' in the previous line, refers to how one may dream while awake, yet no outsider may become involved in the dream. A dream world is not necessarily a bad place to dwell, and is only perceived as being bad because not everyone can freely enter its walls. Moreover, the walls are unique to each dreamer, therefore, are transparent. This uniqueness is shown in the short stories I am focusing on. For Durrell, the walls were as white as snow, and for Gilman they are covered in crude yellow wallpaper. When reading these stories, it is easy for one to become confused. It is difficult for the reader to understand exactly what is trying to be said, because these stories are so personal. Durrell and Gilman attempt to give some form of insight into their characters minds, but we as readers are restricted by our thoughts. How can we conceive another's dream world? It is possible only through an open mind; one must not think that the author is talking about nonsense, for this way of thinking proves the success society has in grooming our thoughts to fit within its standards. In "Zero and Asylum in the Snow," we are introduced to a character that seems to be rambling to some unknown person about nonsensical illusions of snow, farmyards, Christianity, and five other existing characters. As one progresses through the story, one realizes that the snow Durrell writes of is everywhere. It surrounds the character, which is later revealed to be Durrell himself, and "chimes about [them] and [he] can do nothing, nothing.
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