Writing a Newspaper Article – News Article Writing Guidelines

There are certain guidelines that every journalist should follow when writing news stories. If the process is done correctly, the journalist will effectively entertain and educate readers from all walks of life.

Here are the guidelines that need to be followed:

1. The lead paragraph of your article should provide concise and clear overview of the main points that your readers need to know. In here, it’s a must that you answer the why, how, where, when, who, and what questions of your audience. Make sure that your readers will fully understand the gist of your content even if they choose not to read the rest of your article. Remember, these people are pressed for time and they usually read articles from start to finish.

2. Stick with facts. Your articles should always be unbiased, balanced, and completely fact-based. You must clearly cite the sources of your information and they must be integrated into your content.

3. Keep it simple. All the sentences that you use must be concise, clear, and worded in such a way that they are appropriate for your target audience. It’s important that you use simple terms all throughout or those words that your readers can easily identify with.

4. Keep it short. As I said a while ago, the audience you’re serving are usually pressed for time. So, do them a favor by making your article short and to the point. Do not use lengthy introductions and by all means, do not beat around the bush. Deliver the information that you’ve gathered upfront. Your readers will surely appreciate you for doing so.

The Advantages of Moving Your Offline Business Online

Because of the invention of the Internet, offline business becomes a thing of the past. People who are still on offline business are lagging behind by those who are already doing a full time online marketing. The innovation of the e-commerce industry brought into light the creation of Internet marketing as the basis for a safer and faster transaction with leaser production cost but more return on investment.

To start online business, you don’t need lots of capital to invest, in fact you can start from zero cost. There are some online companies that offers free web-hosting, web design, and free marketing tools to start your Internet business. But these companies will capitalize you as novice.

Advantages of Online Business

1. Cost -efficiency. To operate an online business is cheaper compared to offline business, less human interventions and less expensive to reach the market. You can start your internet business with zero or minimum capital investment. With only one Personal Computer, you can start your own Internet business.

2. Time. To promote your business online it’s easy and fast sending using the Internet through email in just a couple of few seconds. Whereas in the offline world, you’ve to travel doing house to house promotion or send fliers to far away places which would takes weeks or months before they reach your clients.

3. Manpower cost. Using your PC or Laptop, they won’t complain of over-worked or low pay with long hours of services. You don’t need to hire lots of workers. With your home based online business 1 or 2 PCs are enough to support you, of course with the help of your household members.

4. Can work anywhere. If you’ve your own computer or Laptop and Internet connections you can work anywhere to connect your clients all over the world anytime of the day. And the best part in online business, you’ve no boss to worry about, because you’re your own boss.

There’s a big difference with online marketing compared with offline business, since more benefits can be attained from the later that the former can’t provide. Analyzing the risk involve in the offline world, there’s less you can get in online business.

The money you can save through your efforts in online marketing can be used primarily for the welfare of your family and important expenses needed in your household.

These are only a portion of the advantages I’ve included you can use in pursuing your marketing online as against the offline marketing.

Make Money Online Now: Fast and Free

You are not the only one looking for ways to make money online fast, there are millions like us everywhere. Thanks to the ever-developing internet technologies, it has become easier to look for opportunities to earn. You can do this by selling stuff online, write, create websites and many more. To make it really easier for you, I have compiled the Top 5 Free ways to make money online now:

  1. Be paid just by sharing your opinion and answering surveys
  2. Become an eBay seller
  3. Become a Freelance article writer
  4. Audio file transcription
  5. Sell photos

These are simple and free ways to make money online, even without an investment.

  • Take Online Surveys

Taking online surveys won’t pay huge you the big bucks and make you rich, but this could be a solution if you are looking for a way to make free and fast online money. You only need to sign up to an online survey company like Toluna.com. Registration to these websites are typically free; you just need to fill in some personal information and you should be good to go. There are many topics involved in survey taking, most are on financial products, appliances that you already use, and products that you are familiar with. There are surveys that would not take you longer than 20 minutes to complete, while there are some that may take as few as 5 minutes. You will be normally paid in points which you can use to exchange for store vouchers and credits.

  • eBay Selling

Look around you. Do you have stuff that you don’t use anymore or don’t want to keep? Stop hoarding and get rid of unwanted stuff and make money out of it! How? Go to eBay.com and look at the things being sold there, and you’d be amazed. There are people who buy the weirdest stuff, even, so it is not impossible for you to sell your items. All you need to do is to sign up for an account, take photos of the items that you intend to sell, and upload them to your profile along with some description. Be as detailed as possible so that your potential buyer will be enticed to buy the item. You can then sit back and just wait for the bids to pour right in. eBay selling one of the fastest ways to make money online, and it’s free to join, too!

  • Sell Your Writing Talent

If you know your way around words, you can make money online really quickly. There is an ever-present demand for online writers who can whip up compelling and unique articles. As you are starting out while building your profile online, your rates will be low. But I know many people who earn $20 per day when they were just starting out, so you can do this, too. There are thousands of bloggers, website owners and businesses that need a regular supply of content for their sites. If you are a fast thinker who can type fast, you might find this a lucrative career in the future.

  • Transcription Jobs

If you are among the number of people who have excellent listening skills, type really fast and have good English skills, then you can be a transcriptionist. The pay can be compared to writing, but there are clients who pay more especially if you are a regular contractor for them. You can look for clients through freelancing sites like Elance or oDesk. You can start doing this without any investment, however, you might need to invest in a good set of headphones that will allow you to hear all the words in the audio recordings you will have to transcribe. Transcription jobs are plentiful, and once you have a steady set of clients, you will find that transcribing can be one of the fastest free ways to make money online.

  • Sell Your Photographs

If photography is your passion and you find yourself short of funds, you can earn money online by selling some of your photos. You can use your computer to upload your photos to websites that store stock photos like istockphoto.com. These websites may require you to upload some samples of your work prior to being allowed access to their galleries, so it is best to prepare a nicely-put portfolio that you can use. Remember to check the website to see which kind of photos sell well and which are popular.

There are so many option to make free money online fast, without the need to incur costs and invest a lot of money. The key is in looking for the right source of information.

Industrial Property Buying Tips and Tools

Industrial property is the entry point for many property investors to the commercial property industry. As a property type, industrial property is relatively straightforward with little complexity. The property owner just needs to target and strategise the following issues when looking for a property to buy:

  • Stable tenants
  • Achievable rentals
  • Good property location
  • Industrial property precinct
  • Growth of the local community and business sector
  • Vibrant industrial community supplying services, products, and raw materials
  • Access to transport links, ports, airports, and railheads

So now let’s look at the industrial property needed today by tenants.

What do Industrial Tenants Need?

Traditional warehouses will include quality height, size, loading and unloading facilities, quality office space to support industrial operations, ample car parking for staff and customers, hardstand areas for operational flexibility, and high levels of security to protect the tenant’s goods and their operation.

Industrial tenants today are far more sophisticated and demanding when it comes to selecting a property to lease or buy. The investor should therefore select a property that has all the elements of property usage that tenants expect in the local market. Tenants know that the property will impact operational costs and eventually the bottom line of their business. Tenants will choose their property well as a consequence.

Taking the First Step to Investment in Industrial Property

Industrial warehouses are simple to construct and have a long economic life hence the investor sees it as an entry-level investment vehicle and popular. Providing they select a sound and strong tenant, and apply a good lease, the stable future of the property for investors is normally achievable.

There is very little management required on industrial property, and as direct result many private investors will manage industrial property themselves. Unfortunately this does have negative connotations, in that the first time investor sometimes has little awareness of the specialist terms and operational conditions that is supported by lease documentation on their property.

These first time investors can then overlook critical matters and make mistakes. To the experienced commercial property specialist and commercial real estate agent, it is easy to see these ‘first time’ landlord managed properties as you drive through a town or city. The errors of ownership are visually obvious. These errors can even reflect in the ultimate levels of rent and price on the property.

Invariably and importantly this self management problem will surface at final sale or rent review time when the investor has overlooked something or transacted it incorrectly. The buyers of property today will conduct a due diligence period and investigation of any property prior to settlement.

Those property owners that manage their own investments should only do so only when and if they completely understand the complexity of the task at hand. If the investors have only a basic understanding of property performance and function, then they should not self manage the property. The matter is plain and simple.

Critical property knowledge will involve key functional elements such as:

  • Types of rental
  • The lease clauses and provisions
  • Property maintenance strategies
  • Property operational costs
  • Contractor management
  • Vacancy resolution and strategy
  • Incentive use and strategy
  • Tenant negotiation skills

A good property solicitor is invaluable when it comes to Investment Property. The same should be said for a property experienced accountant. Even the most basic industrial property needs carefully prepared lease documentation and financial guidance. It is interesting to note that many first time property investors will sometimes choose cheaper lease documentation that is ‘generic’ and available off the shelf. Cheap is not a good option when it comes to documentation in investment property. You get what you pay for and so why would you take this risk?

Given that you are endeavouring to protect and stabilize cash flow, a few dollars saved on lease documentation preparation at the start of any occupancy can eventually lead to property instability or downfall, loss of tenant, higher property operational costs, and uncertainty when it comes to exercising the critical terms and conditions of the document of lease.

A good property solicitor will understand the occupancy needs of the particular property and reflect that into the document used by the landlord to protect occupancy and cash flow. The same solicitor can create a standard lease document and strategy that targets the landlord’s cash flow plans and investment targets. You will not get this advantage from ‘generic’ leases.

Industrial Properties Outgoings Advantage

Many Investors seek to purchase and to lease industrial property to major industrial businesses under long term net leases. In long term net leases, these larger tenants would normally control and pay the property outgoings direct.

The property outgoings in an industrial property are normally simple although there is an essential checking process needed here to see that the tenant is correctly paying the outgoings in a timely fashion. In many circumstances and in this market, we have seen some tenants avoid the payment of outgoings without the full awareness of the landlord. This then creates unnecessary fines and legal disputes for outstanding outgoings accounts. The landlord must not assume that the tenant has discharged or paid the outgoings; the landlord can later find that the matter is still outstanding and about to go to court for non-payment. Rates and taxes (statutory charges) are usually a charge on the land and will ultimately fall on the landlord for payment.

So whilst this process of tenant paying outgoings direct is convenient and simple for the landlord, such leases have little substantial increase in rental return which may not necessarily support the investor’s growth plans. Investors of this ‘basic’ nature typically hold a number of properties of this type over the long term to allow them to achieve portfolio growth.

With industrial property it pays to recognise that the property may be uniquely and specially suited to a particular tenant. This means that the vacancy threat in industrial property must be carefully monitored as any lease reaches the end of term. It is not unusual for industrial property to remain vacant for a lengthy period in the current market.

Mortgage Lenders and Industrial Property

Mortgage lenders for fully leased warehouses occupied on the long leases see them as being good collateral for loans. Long-term financing is typically available for industrial investors at competitive interest rates. The investors of industrial probably find it easy to refinance an expanding portfolio on the back of their established industrial and well leased property.

The secret to success in industrial property investment is to have:

  • Good leases
  • Good tenants
  • Good vacancy awareness and minimisation strategies
  • Sound recovery of property operational costs
  • Good maintenance controls
  • Good insurance strategies
  • Minimal exposure to risk from the property
  • Well established permitted use and compliances
  • Good income and expenditure budgets

Industrial property is the market segment that is normally suffering early in an economic downturn. That is due to the close integration between the industrial business community and the consumer. Fortunately, it is the industrial property market that responds quickly when the economy moves towards growth and stability. Landlords should respect this fact and monitor their way through the downtimes as they will always come and go.

Investment Property is cyclical and will on average move through a complete cycle every 7 to 10 years. In today’s market, many investors know that real opportunity exists today at the beginning of a new property cycle. This cycle is currently evident in most countries and major cities.