Computer keyboard

Writing content and writing skills are very important especially if you own a company and a company website. Writing is needed everywhere: website content, advertising, marketing, scripts, networking, media releases, articles, e-mails, and so on. Being able to choose the right words and weave them in a way that gains the attention of your audience and search engines is a learned and practiced skill.

Writing is a great way to communicate. Yet many times we do not know where to start, what to write, and/or how to write it. Writing is a way in which we learn, figure out what we know or do not know about a topic, and to understand a topic better; therefore, the best way to write about something is to use prewriting strategies. Roen, Glau, and Maid (2008) states, “Many famous writers have commented that they cannot really know what they think about something until they write about it.” Therefore, tried-and-true writing strategies help us learn, discover, explore, and understand the topic that we choose to write about.

Writing is needed everywhere: website content, advertising, marketing, scripts, networking, media releases, articles, e-mails, and so on. Being able to choose the right words and weave them in a way that gains the attention of your audience and search engines is a learned and practiced skill.

Paraphrasing, muddiest point, and the double-entry notebook are three pre-writing/invention strategies that are effective in generating ideas, knowledge, and information and upon experimentation, I have found them to be the most effective of all the other pre-writing/invention strategies. It is important to implement more than one strategy and this essay will compare and contrast the three most effective ones as well as list the least effective pre-writing/invention strategy and why it was the most ineffective.

Paraphrasing is a most effective way of understanding a topic because it requires you to put information about the topic into your own words. According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary a paraphrase is “a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form.” By restating and explaining something in my own words, I was able to have a better understanding of the topic. If I could not paraphrase certain parts then I knew that I needed to do more studying and/or research in order to understand the topic better so that I could put it into my own words.

The effective strategy of muddiest point required writing down ideas and concepts that I did not understand in order to use writing to help clarify my thinking. I found using the muddiest point strategy highly effective when I could not understand something that I had read in my other college course. I made a list of things that I could not understand and then used the Internet to conduct some research on the topic of SQL. Then I jotted down important information that was useful in organizing what I read and found that using a muddiest-point entry was indeed extremely helpful in make sense of what I could not understand earlier.

The double-entry notebook was the third most effective pre-writing/invention strategy in my experimentation as it allowed me to take notes on a topic and also to jot down my own thoughts and questions right beside the related entry. The double-entry notebook has two columns. The left column contains information that is related to the context. In other words, this was where I took notes about my college course reading. Then in the column on the right side of the page, I wrote questions, responses, and jots that related to my notes on the left side. The double-entry notebook was effective in creating a “dialogue” between the two columns and I was able to answer my own questions as I saw the information laid out side by side.

Some pre-writing/invention strategies may not be effective as I discovered in the strategy of listing. Listing required me to create lists of keywords that would help me to remember more ideas for later writing. Categories of these keywords were created in the attempt to provide clarification and a solution to a problem. Yet I found that in my mind I was constantly listing and categorizing keywords automatically. Therefore, I felt that doing what I already do subconsciously and consciously and putting it all in writing was a waste of time and using key words was not enough to provide additional information or to jog my memory. Listing did not give me enough information to work in the way that it is supposed to work and, needless to say, listing was the most ineffective invention strategy for me.

Pre-writing/invention techniques help to generate writing ideas, gain information, and acquire knowledge as writing is a very effective way in which we learn, figure out what we know or do not know about a topic, and to understand a topic better. It is often said that in order to improve your writing skills, you must understand the topic and in order to gain more knowledge of the topic. The many benefits of pre-writing/invention strategies include learning and figuring things out as you use writing to work through processes, jotting and brainstorming ideas, and categorizing keywords for research purposes. Other benefits include finding solutions to problems, clarifying what you do not fully understand, and gathering new ideas. From putting the information into your own words, which leads to further understanding and/or discovering which areas you need to do more learning, to finding answers through the strategy of questioning, the benefits of using pre-writing/invention strategies are many. Regardless of the purpose of writing, these strategies will assist in generating information and knowledge through invention techniques. There are many different pre-writing/invention strategies and techniques and they are highly effective in preparing one to write, regardless of the type and purpose of a writing that needs to be accomplished. It is best to experiment and figure which one is most effective and applicable for you.

Matt Keezer’s hint for companies especially start up companies: If you’re not a writer and/or don’t have the time be sure to invest in the right person or company to do this for you, your business, and your target market. Remember, content is king!

Use Internet tools to increase web traffic

New audiences and new publicity tools await you at the Internet! You have an enormous toolbox full of new tools which can get you more publicity than you’ve ever dreamed of and you’ll reach new audiences that span the world. Through specialized web pages, online discussion groups, and e-zine online tools, these new publicity tools are unbelievably useful and can spread your news faster than traditional tactics. The best part is that they are at your disposal just by pushing the power button of your computer! For starters on how these invaluable tools can deliver your message at break-neck speed, digital photos and audio and video clips can be sent to journalists via e-mail. Webcasting is just another tool that is phenomenal for reaching your target audiences. AND journalists and public relations experts who love to surf the web can use your news that they find posted at your website, networking sites, and forums. They will find you wherever you have celebritized you!

Although you have a smorgasbord of new Internet tools to reach new audiences (ones you never even knew you could reach), the old rules still apply. What to write, how to write it, meeting deadlines, etc. are just a few of the old rules that still apply. There’s an old saying that goes, “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other, gold.” This is oh-so true when applying new tools to reach new audiences. So follow the old rules when using the new tools to reach audiences in various industries around the globe with amazing tools that were never accessible before until now! You are out-of-this-world amazing  and so is what your company offers so sing your tune, toot your horn, and rocket yourself out of this world to cyberspace stardom status!

Meeting a start-up company's target

A business’ start-up phase is very delicate and vulnerable. During this time, it is crucial that entrepreneurial companies have what they need to begin, survive, and see growth. A business incubator provides the resources and services that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of young companies during this exciting yet fragile stage.

Although business incubators may seem new, the idea has been around since the 1950s so it really is not a new concept. A business incubator develops programs that will promote the spirit of entrepreneurship, create jobs, support and help communities retain businesses, encourage local communities and economies. Due to these promotional efforts within local communities and businesses, business incubators are highly supported by the Small Business Administration. In fact, global communities welcome business incubator programs.

Incubator programs come in various forms such as non- profit and for profit organizations. The ones that hold non-profit status focus on developing economies. For-profit organizations focus on the return of investment to the shareholders who have put money into the company or companies. Others are for varied or “mix use” and yet there are incubator programs manufacturing companies, service-oriented firms, and so on.

Business incubators are extremely helpful in assisting start-up companies because they focus on the best practices of that particular industry of their client company. Their main focus is to assist the start-up company to success and they measure their success by the use of benchmarking instead of hours and time invested.

Thiinking about starting your own company?

Thinking about starting your own business or company? Here are some tips for those of you who dream of starting your own company:

• Don’t start your own company just because you want to work for yourself and be your own boss
• Do your homework and research. Learn and educate yourself. Get good professional advice and advice from those who have their own successful companies.
• Provide niche products or services. Don’t offer what everyone else is already providing for many reasons including too much competition and offer what you know best and can do best
• Have a low cost of capital. In fact, try to make it lower than anyone else as much as possible
• Get the right people on your team
• Use networking, collaboration, and synergy
• Don’t neglect marketing
• Don’t be in a rush

These are just a few tips for starting your own company for starters. There is much more information to come. As the weeks, go by there will be more start-up company tips.

Business incubators help start up businesses succeed

An incubation program increases the likelihood that a start-up company will stay in business for the long term. Statistically and historically, 87% of incubator graduates remain in business for the long haul. More than half of incubation programs surveyed by National Business Incubation Association 2006 reported that they also served virtual companies.

Not all clients are served by incubation program services and companies/businesses that wish to receive services must apply. Affiliate businesses and virtual companies can gain much success from the use of incubation program services. As the Internet and technology has created many ways to communicate and to conduct global business, assistance, counseling, and services can be performed electronically and digitally.

The type of services vary tremendously as each client/business has specific needs, target market, and goals. Instead of focusing on the hours  and amount of time invested, benchmarks are usually used to determine when certain levels of development and goals are reached. This is highly advantageous as the focus is on meeting goals instead of a time investment being the marking point. Setting sights on meeting the goals of a business allows for the pertaining of benchmarks as well as being able to monitor, maintain, and cater to the changes that are needed in order to meet the goals.