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  • Member You - Use These 3 Editing Tips to Ensure Your Writing Hits the Bull's-Eye

    Planning to Succeed at Sales
    Each year my company hands me down a set of commitments. Quite simply these commitments are goals that the company is asking me to obtain. Some of them are financial related (aka my quota), but most of them quite honestly are not clear goals, that are handed down by corporate head office. They are a subset of the executives goals that they are trying to get accomplished in the field. The unfortunate thing is that most of these goals are not related to what I do every day. Where most people I see, file them away not to be seen again until review time, what I do with them is take them, modify them and then make them mine.Each yea
    ind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence

    Which Witch is Which? Part IV: O-R
    oar.............boat propulsion system or...............comparitive article ore.............mineral-laden dirt odd.............see: awedoffal............see: awefuloh...............interjection owe.............to be indebted ohs.............more than one letter "O" owes............in debt one.............singularity won.............victoriousoohs...........as in "oohs and ahs" ooze...........slime oracle, see: auricleoral, see: auralordinance......
    The first step in the writing process is to put your ideas down on paper. Once you have text to work with, the second step is to revise what you have written to make it as clear, accurate and powerful as you can. The final step is to edit your work carefully.

    Editing Tip #1: Take a Break

    When you have concentrated on your writing for long periods of time, there is a tendency to read what you think is there—not what you have actually written! By taking a break for a few hours (or even a few days), you will return to your work with a fresh mind and fresh eyes. Suddenly you will realize that:

    • The rhythm of your sentences and paragraphs is off; either they are too short and choppy or too convoluted and long.
    • Some of your ideas are out of place and belong in a different paragraph.
    • One of your paragraphs doesn’t make any sense!
    • You forgot to address a crucial aspect of your topic.
    • Some of your data is wrong or missing.
    • You have misspelled several words and accidentally omitted others.
    Editing Tip #2: Edit at Two Levels: Conceptual and Line-by-Line

    Editing is conducted at two levels. First concentrate on the conceptual, or substantive, level to ensure that your ideas are strong, logical and well-organized. Once this step is complete, go through your work line-by-line to check for small details such as spelling, grammar, word choice and punctuation.

    Conceptual Editing

    When you begin to edit at the conceptual level, try to approach your work as though you were the intended reader instead of the author. In your role as reader, look at the introduction. Is it compelling? Do you clearly understand what the topic, major points and slant of the communication will be?

    Then look at the body. Do the ideas flow well, or are they confusing? Are they presented in some kind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence

    Process Review: Making a New Methodology Permanent
    Integrating new technologies and adapting to rapidly changing markets inevitably means implementing new methodologies. There are four steps to implementing any new methodology within an organization:1. Select a core framework for the methodology. That is, a set of best practices is chosen as the guiding example for operational success.2. Modify the framework to fit the specifics of the organization, and devise a concrete implementation.3. Train the organization to perform using the methodology.4. Establish a process to review and improve the methodology. The fourth step is process review - a set of activities
    ing a break for a few hours (or even a few days), you will return to your work with a fresh mind and fresh eyes. Suddenly you will realize that:

    • The rhythm of your sentences and paragraphs is off; either they are too short and choppy or too convoluted and long.
    • Some of your ideas are out of place and belong in a different paragraph.
    • One of your paragraphs doesn’t make any sense!
    • You forgot to address a crucial aspect of your topic.
    • Some of your data is wrong or missing.
    • You have misspelled several words and accidentally omitted others.
    Editing Tip #2: Edit at Two Levels: Conceptual and Line-by-Line

    Editing is conducted at two levels. First concentrate on the conceptual, or substantive, level to ensure that your ideas are strong, logical and well-organized. Once this step is complete, go through your work line-by-line to check for small details such as spelling, grammar, word choice and punctuation.

    Conceptual Editing

    When you begin to edit at the conceptual level, try to approach your work as though you were the intended reader instead of the author. In your role as reader, look at the introduction. Is it compelling? Do you clearly understand what the topic, major points and slant of the communication will be?

    Then look at the body. Do the ideas flow well, or are they confusing? Are they presented in some kind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence

    SEO Traffic - The Easy Task of Generating SEO Traffic
    Did you think that only specialists in search engine optimization could generate SEO traffic? Well, you might be mistaken. Though there are some that are already experts with SEO, even if you are not that knowledgeable, you can still drive SEO traffic for your web site.Even with just little background in web design, you can do this easy task. For starters, you can collate articles from ezines that you can use. To prevent getting in trouble, you should not alter a thing on the article and include the information about the author. From there, you can include the URL of your web site. These articles were already crafted in a manner to
    Some of your data is wrong or missing.
  • You have misspelled several words and accidentally omitted others. Editing Tip #2: Edit at Two Levels: Conceptual and Line-by-Line

    Editing is conducted at two levels. First concentrate on the conceptual, or substantive, level to ensure that your ideas are strong, logical and well-organized. Once this step is complete, go through your work line-by-line to check for small details such as spelling, grammar, word choice and punctuation.

    Conceptual Editing

    When you begin to edit at the conceptual level, try to approach your work as though you were the intended reader instead of the author. In your role as reader, look at the introduction. Is it compelling? Do you clearly understand what the topic, major points and slant of the communication will be?

    Then look at the body. Do the ideas flow well, or are they confusing? Are they presented in some kind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence

    Seattle Real Estate
    Seattle is ranked as one of the top ten real estate markets in the United States. Located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, it is considered the largest city in the Pacific Northwest, with a total population of around 572,000. From scenic places to historical museums, Seattle has a lot to offer to everyone, and it is a great place to live.Buying a property in Seattle is a wise investment, considering its economic stability and the many attractions and points of interest that are located in the city. Whether you are looking for a new home because you plan to relocate or a nice vacation home to spend your holidays, you have man
    , word choice and punctuation.

    Conceptual Editing

    When you begin to edit at the conceptual level, try to approach your work as though you were the intended reader instead of the author. In your role as reader, look at the introduction. Is it compelling? Do you clearly understand what the topic, major points and slant of the communication will be?

    Then look at the body. Do the ideas flow well, or are they confusing? Are they presented in some kind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence

    Marketing and the Hired Guerrilla
    It’s a jungle out there, so know and use your guerrilla marketing tactics! Jay Conrad Levinson wrote the book that started it all, the popular guerrilla marketing series. He has compiled a list of 100 tactics – most of them fr*ee – that savvy business leaders use.One increasingly popular – and profitable – tactic on Levinson’s list is the informative article. Articles are not ads. Articles are written to inform, to educate, and to help people solve problems. Articles you publish, online or off, can help you achieve several worthwhile marketing goals.ARTICLES ESTABLISH YOUR CREDIBILITYIt is well accepted that consumer c
    ind of logical order? Do concrete details help to paint a clear picture? Are any stray ideas lurking in unrelated paragraphs?

    Does this communication seem to be written for you? In other words, do you feel like you are its intended audience, or does the writer fail to explain concepts, terms and acronyms you don’t understand? Is the voice of this communication appropriate? Is it too formal? Too informal? Just right?

    Did the writer insult your intelligence by repeating the same ideas over and over? Or did the writer present a strong, clear, coherent argument that you understood immediately? Finally, what is your overall impression of this communication (and its writer)? Positive or negative?

    This technique of reading what you have written as though you were the intended audience will help you see your communications from a different perspective. Some of what you discover may surprise you. Make any changes that are necessary and then proceed to line editing.

    Line Editing

    The final step in the editing process is to go through your document line-by-line to check for errors in mechanics (e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation), word usage and format.

    If you included tables or figures, be sure to check that the captions are correct and that you entered the data correctly. Also be sure you have expressed your ideas as succinctly as possible. If you find your sentences are filled with empty, unnecessary words, delete them.

    Try This!

    If you are having problems “seeing” your errors at the line level, go to the end of your document and read the last sentence. Then read the second to last sentence. Continue working from the end to the beginning until you reach your opening line! This technique keeps your brain from automatically reading what you think you wrote and helps you see what is actually on the page.

    A Special Word About Homonyms

    The English language has many words, called homonyms, that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. The four most common sets are: their/they’re/there, too/to/two, your/you’re, and its/it’s.

    These are FREQUENTLY used incorrectly! Even when you know the difference between them, it is easy to type the wrong word when you are concentrating on getting your ideas down on paper. Unfortunately, ordina

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