Essay Writing : A step-by-step guide to writing a basic essay

A press release is often your only chance to make a great first impression.

Newspapers, magazines and trade publications receive them by the truckload. That means sloppy, long, inaccurate, pointless releases are the first to hit the newsroom wastebasket or a journalist’s “deleted” folder.

To make sure yours isn’t one of them, avoid these major mistakes:

–Failing to write a headline that explains what the story is about. Don’t try to be too cute or tease readers. Remember that journalists spend an average of five seconds reading a release before deciding whether to use it or toss it.

–Failing to write a sub-head. A sub-head communicates to journalists a little more of what the story is about and helps get your message across quicker.

–Writing press releases that are too long. Each release should be no longer than one printed page, or one computer screen of type. Remember, the purpose of a press release is to make a journalist pick up the phone and call you for a larger story.

–Failing to double-check all facts. Before you send a release, double-check everything. If your press release includes a telephone number, call the number to make sure it’s correct. If it includes a website address, send the release to yourself first and actually click on the link to make sure it takes readers to the correct page. Don’t rely on your computer’s spell-check. Have someone else proofread the release.

–Sending it too late. If you want publicity for an event in your own community, send releases to local newspapers and TV stations about three weeks before the event. If you want publicity in national magazines, however, you might have to send your information six months before the event because many magazines work several months ahead of the publication date. Make sure you know deadlines for every publication on your media contact list.

–Sending a press release that focuses on the company sending it, not on the reader. Instead of saying, “The Pacific Gas & Electric Company today issued eight tips for lower utility bills…” say “Homeowners struggling with high utility bills can cut heating costs by doing eight things to weather-proof their homes before cold weather hits.”

–Blatant commercialism. Avoid hackneyed words and phrases such as spectacular, incredible, the only one of its kind, breakthrough, cutting-edge, unique and state-of-the-art.

–Including industry lingo that no one understands except people in your industry.

–Failing to include information on where consumers can buy what you are selling.

–Omitting a contact name and phone number. At the top of the page in the left corner, let editors know who they can call if they have questions. Include day, evening and cell phone numbers. Remember that journalists work around the clock. Don’t offer a phone number where people work only from 9 to 5.

The purpose of a press release is to communicate the news as quickly as possible. The easier you can make a journalist’s job, the greater the chances that your news will be used.

Publicity expert Joan Stewart is co-author of the ebook “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound.” Download a sample chapter at her website at http://www.PublicityHound.com/sample.htm where you can also sign up for her ezine “The Publicity Hound’s Tips ofthe Week.” Contact her at jstewart@publicityhound.com or at 262-284-7451.

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For some job opening, employers receive
hundreds and even thousands of resumes.
When you are looking for a job, how
can you best promote yourself? How
can you convince a prospective employer
to pick-up the phone and call you for
an interview?

Sought-after career coach and author
of the critically-acclaimed book,
The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets
to Self-discovery, Theresa Castro
states that you should take into
consideration that your resume is the
first exposure a potential employer will
have of you. Given this, you shouldn’t
take your resume lightly. Castro
offers a list of ten tips that will
assist you in creating a winning
resume and increasing your chances
of getting called for an interview.

1. Do address employment gaps briefly
in the cover letter only if the gaps
are a significant amount of time
such as maternity leave. Use a
functional resume to address gaps
in employment or changes in field
of interest.

2. Think from the perspective of your
future employer. What’s in it for
them? Why should this company call
you? Keep in mind that your resume
is not the only resume that will be
considered.

3. Recognize that your resume is your
“sales person”. This “sales person”
must convince the prospective
employer to pick up the phone and
schedule an interview with you. If
your “sales person” isn’t convincing
enough then guess what there won’t
be any phone calls. Thus, take the
time to make your resume sell, sell,
sell…yourself.

4. Ask a friend or co-worker about your
accomplishments. Some times, we don’t
readily recognize or recall the many
things that we have done.

5. Make certain that your contact
information is correct. It would
dreadful to think that an employer
wanted to reach you but you mistakenly
listed the wrong information.

6. Take advantage of internet technology
and place your resume on various
websites. There are numerous websites
such as Monster, Career Builder and
HotJobs that allow you to find a job
based on your particular interests.
In addition, there are websites that
will list jobs that are specific to
a particular industry. For example,
Medzilla is a website that has job
listings exclusively for the medical
industry.

7. Demonstrate the key traits in your
resume: leadership, communication,
teamwork, decision making and problem
solving. For leadership, how are you
an innovator? For communication, are
you approachable? Are you open-minded?
Can you communicate effectively orally?
In a written format? In regard to
teamwork, can you work with others?
What examples of teamwork could you
illustrate from the past? As far as
decision making is concerned, what
have you done to play into the success
of the companies for whom you have
worked? In regard to problem solving,
when have you seen the big picture and
created a change that had a positive
and quantifiable outcome?

8. Each job listing has a particular list
of required experiences. If you
possess these experiences, then make
sure that you express this in your
resume. You can’t make any assumptions
about what the potential employer knows
about you or your work history.

9. Read your resume out loud. By doing
this, you will find missing words,
grammatical errors or content that
just doesn’t make sense.

10. Have at least three friends review your
resume. You are utilizing their
assistance to ensure that you haven’t
missed something or made an easy to fix
mistake.

(c) 2005, Theresa Castro

Theresa Castro, MBA is an executive career
coach and author of The Dark Before the
Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery. Go
to http://www.DiscoverYourDreamJob.com to sign-up
for a free 3 day mini-course.

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Resume Writing doesn’t have to be a solo gig

Resume writing can be the bottleneck to advancements in your career. If you find yourself getting writer’s block consider getting help. You can find experts who have written hundreds of resumes; they can help you, too. A good first place to look for help is online job search sites such as career builder or monster.com.

Get help writing resumes that will get you hired

There you’ll find a number of expert writers who can provide you critiques as well as do-overs for resumes. There are some services that specialize in niche markets for executive resumes. You can also find help distributing resumes.

Even if you’re a professional writer, you’ll recognize that these people know their stuff. They’ll help build resumes into effective marketing brochures that people can use to interviews. People often put too much or too little information in their resumes. They may not have the distance to critique their own resumes to decide what should stay in and what should be taken out.

Online job search sites have a number of sources that you can use for your career search. Getting help writing resumes is just one of them. You can also pick up interview tips, learn about career fairs, and get the low down on continuing education. Not only can you learn how to improve your interview skills, you can also learn more about hot careers.

Resume writing tips for the Internet

You need resume writing tips for the Internet because not all resumes are created equally. Sometimes employers will want their resumes in ASCII format only. That means you produce something in Notepad, not Word. You can write your resume in Word but then you make sure you save it in Text format. You’ll lose a lot of formatting when you do this so keep the resume simple and check what it looks like in Notepad.

Getting interviews depends on submitting the right kind of resume

The usual reason why an employer wants the resume in ASCII format is that they scan the resume into their resume bank. This way you might get a call for an interview when you’re not actively looking because your resume was scanned in to the employer’s database of resumes. Here are some tips to help improve how scannable your r

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