Tuesday...

#Freelance Daily Post:


Today in Freelance Fingerprints
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A New Approach to Self-Improvement
by: Tammy Pratt

Are you frustrated with your business growth? Maybe you are focusing too much energy on improving on your weaknesses and not enough on your strengths. You made a list of your of your strengths and weaknesses.

To read more please go Freelance Fingerprints

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#Daily Writing Tip :
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The Secret to Good Writing
by: Marie-Claire Ross

Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience.

Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us.

Why? The answer lies in our school education. We learnt that if we used big words and complex sentences, we were more likely to get an ‘A’ by our English teacher or University lecturer. The education system taught us that people who use a broad range of vocabulary are more intelligent that the rest of us.

There is nothing wrong with writing beautifully pieces of prose that feature a stunning range of vocabulary knowledge. However, such writing is unsuitable for a business market.

No business manager has the time to wade through material that meanders and weaves before a point is made. They are even less likely to have time to grab a dictionary to work out what the writer is trying to say.

When I used to work as a market research consultant, I had the impossible task of trying to write market research reports that seemed interesting. My immediate response was to write a report that would make my University lecturer’s proud. Sadly, my colleagues all felt the same way.

It wasn’t until we had a business writing consultant come in to train us about how to write at the level of a Year 8 student that we realised the folly of our ways.

Using my newly found skills of writing a report using simple English, I proudly produced my ‘easy on the brain’ report to my manager (who missed the writing class). He told me ‘You write like you talk’. To this day, I still don’t know if he was criticising my talking or writing ability, but I gathered either way he wasn’t happy.

However, from a communication point of view, this style of writing is perfect for getting your message across quickly.

Later on in my career, I worked at a company that prided itself on its easy to read reports. While this was true (to some degree), one of the directors loved to throw in a difficult word in every report he wrote to make the marketing manager reach for his dictionary. He thought this was really clever and that his clients would be in awe of his knowledge. I’m guessing his clients thought he was a tosser (interestingly, I met an ex-client years later who told me that when their company received one of his reports they would quickly scan it to find the unusual word and then erupt into hysterical laughter).

Articles that are written to impress your audience about how clever you are, do nothing more than distance them. No matter how learned your market is, they still prefer to read information that is easy to digest.

A great way to test whether your writing is easy to comprehend is to read it out loud. If someone spoke to you, using those words, could you instantly understand what they were getting at or would you have to really concentrate?

Scripts for marketing videos are no different. In fact, they need to be extremely simple in order to quickly grab the attention of people walking past at a trade show, for example.

Writing that is heavy on technical terms and jargon can be a real turn off. The beauty of a marketing video is that it uses both pictures and words. The saying “A picture tells a thousand words” is a powerful concept with corporate movies. It means you can actually get away with saying less, but easily get your message across, because the pictures do all of the talking.

Surprisingly, clear writing can be quite a difficult writing style to master, but the effort is well rewarded. And look at the bright side, at least people won’t burst into fits of laughter when they read your masterpiece.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide) or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at www.digicast.com.au.

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#Freelance Writing jobs :
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Advertising Copywriter - Please email us for consideration - Fort Lauderdale, FL

We seek freelance Copywriters to work with us on a project by project basis.

As an advertising agency servicing both local and national accounts, our creative directors would like access to experienced advertising copywriters that can be hired on a project by project basis to lend their copywriting expertise.

We wood like to know how much availability you have for freelance projects, what specific industry experience you have and what recognizable campaigns you have worked on during your career.

Please send us your resume and your hourly rate to work on-site at our Lauderdale office.

We would like to conduct in-person interviews / portfolio reviews as soon as next week.

We do seek true professionals with a minimum of three years previous advertising agency experience.

Our clients span the following industries:
Automotive
Medical
Hi Tech
Food and Beverage
Hotel and Resorts
Real Estate

We do service both domestic and Latin American markets so both English and Spanish copywriters are needed.

REQUIREMENTS
You must provide three professional references for consideration

You must be local to the SE Florida area. No relocation assistance is offered.

Must have at least three year’s professional experience.

Collage graduates preferred but not required.

To apply view the job in Career Builder

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Freelance ReporterThe Journal Star - JOURNAL STAR - Peoria, IL
Freelance ReporterThe Journal Star in Peoria is seeking a freelance reporter to cover parts of McLean, Woodford and Tazewell counties. The ideal candidate will be a motivated self-starter with good writing, interviewing and basic photography skills, along with a solid news sense. The position includes covering breaking news, municipal, county and school government, police and courts as well as general features.

Please send resume and at least six clips to:Lisa Coon, State EditorJournal Star1 News PlazaPeoria, IL 61643 or e-mail *******

Source - Peoria Journal Star

To apply view the job in Career Builder

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History Mag for Kids Seeks Articles on Byzantium Anywhere

Learning Through History magazine is a bi-monthly history publication for readers age 9-16, grades 5 and up.

We are accepting submissions for the Byzantium issue through December 15, 2006. Below are just a few of the many topics that would be of interest -we also encourage writers to submit manuscripts and queries on other possible topic(s) that are related to the issue theme:

Constantine I
The City of Constantinople
Justinian the Great
Great Church of Haghia Sophia
The Great Plague
Byzantine Secret Weapon: Greek Fire
The Iconoclast Controversy
The Empire of Basil II
The Great Schism
Byzantine Art
The Seljuk Turks and Asia Minor
The First Crusade
The Fourth Crusade
The Fall of Constantinople

.. and other related topics.

Learning Through History pays $75 per non-fiction articles of 1000-1200 words and $30 for related arts and crafts projects, plus a complimentary issue in which your work appears.

Please see the freelance guidelines section of our website for complete details on how to submit to our magazine:

Complete Freelance Guidelines

No agencies, please. Writers must submit their own work directly to us. Thanks for your interest!

To apply view the job in online writing jobs

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Copywriter - Interactive Consumer Advertising - NYC - TTS Personnel - New York City, NY

TTS Personnel, Inc. works with many leading Interactive Advertising agencies in Manhattan. We are currently seeking the expertise of seasoned professional Copywriters for freelance opportunities.

Our focus is on Interactive copywriting � including banners, sites and email campaigns. Some projects may include, long or short copy, financial, and pharmaceutical. Interactive Advertising experience is required.

Hourly rates are competitive.

Permanent positions are available, please inquire.
Submit your resume and online portfolio for immediate consideration.

Bachelor�s Degree or equivalent and related experience as a Copywriter with Interactive Advertising is required.

To apply view the job in Monster

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Freelance Writer - Military Community Awareness - Woodbury, NY

Writers with military experience needed!

Work from home! Work from anywhere!

We need writers for the following topics: military family issues, raising children, deployment and reunion, moving overseas and dealing with the stress of military life. If you are qualified to write on these topics, we are looking for you!

We also want to publish your work. Send your current programs/publications on these and other military topics as well.

Send to:

Get Published

PO Box 732

Woodbury, NY 11797

Or call Jon at 877-813-4622 or email us at jon@4MCA.com .

To apply view the job in Monster

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Proficient Ghost Writer for Book needed Anywhere

I am looking for a proficient and creative ghost writer to write a business e-book.

You must be a creative, opinionated, open-minded writer, who has a passion for developing great stories and able to build a strong voice.

Project Requirements:

- Title or Headlines
- original content (no plagarism or copied article from other websites )
- no grammar errors
- document format
- basic research
- I request complete ownership with complete copyrights.

Approximate start date of the project:
Within 2-3 weeks

Compensation: To be Negotiated
If interested please email me at ******

Please email me 3 pieces of work. Or Websites where you have published your work.

To apply view the job in online writing jobs

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*Jobs From W.G.N.L.

Subscribe in W.G.N.L.

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Parabola
PAY: $75 - $400
A quarterly journal devoted to the exploration of the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world's myths, symbols, and religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the relationship between this store of wisdom and our modern life. Each issue of Parabola is organized around a theme. Examples of themes we have explored in the past include Rites of Passage, Sacred Space, The Child, Ceremonies, Addiction, The Sense of Humor, Hospitality, The Hunter, The Stranger, and Prayer & Meditation.
http://parabola.org/content/view/14/39/

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Common Ties
PAY: up to $1000/story
A new site that collects people's personal stories from all over the world. There is a guideline payment of $200 per piece but writers can suggest another price up to $1,000. Stories should be ideally be 1,000 words or less although stories up to 2,000 words will be considered. For more information please go to http://commonties.com/blog/submit-a-story/

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Love Notes Press
PAY: $75
Seeking short stories of up to 25,000 words for its upcoming A Deserted Island anthology. Stories may be historical or contemporary romance, romantic suspense, or fantasy, sci-fi or paranormal romance, but the story must contain a deserted island. A one-time fee of $75 will be paid for each story. Authors must submit a synopsis for consideration prior to submitting their completed story. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2006. For all the details, visit http://lovenotespress.com/submissions.shtml

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Marriage Partnership
PAY: $.15 - $.25/word
Seeks to provide realistic, challenging, and practical insights into healthy Christian marriage. We offer hope and help to our readers through practical how-to pieces; interviews with experts; humorous articles; true-life, dramatic stories of couples dealing with major life challenges; thoughtful essays; and couple profiles.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/marriage/features/info.html#writers

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Preaching Magazine
PAY: $50
Includes three categories of editorial content: feature articles, sermon manuscripts, and homiletical resources. Virtually all material is written by active/retired pastors and college or seminary faculty. As a professional journal for ministers, editorial content is written by and for vocational ministers; articles by non-ministers are not typically accepted for publication. Rights to publish in publication also include right to reprint on our web site.
http://www.preaching.com/preaching/guidelines.html

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Freelance Writers

The Lebanon Daily News in looking for freelance writers to cover municipal meetings, school board meetings and events. Must be available to work nights and/or weekends. Experience required. E-mail mailto:CityDesk@ldnews.com or call Jeff Clouser, 272-5611, ext. 142.

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News Editor Needed

The Post-Star, a 35,000 circulation newspaper in upstate New York, seeks a proven leader for its seven-person copy desk. We need someone that can be hands on some of the time, a teacher and mentor others. Knowledge of Quark Xpress helpful now, InDesign helpful within a year. We are an award-winning newspaper which places the bar high for our content and design. Please send resume and design samples to Ken Tingley, Managing Editor, The Post-Star, P.O. Box 2157, Glens Falls, NY, 12801, tingley@poststar.com
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Editor
The Cherryville Eagle, a weekly in Gaston County, has an opening for an editor. Writing, editing, layout and photography skills are required. Ability to use Quark and Adobe Photoshop and knowledge of sports helpful. Resumes should be sent to Publisher Bill Parsons at bparsons@kingsmountainherald.com or PO Box 769, Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086.

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For more Freelance or Full time leads please go to The Jobrolls and Craigslist Today
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