Google+ page stories: King Arthur Flour

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of posts about small businesses on Google+ and their tips and tricks for managing a great page. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the videos in this series and join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page.

Meet King Arthur Flour, America’s oldest flour company. Founded in 1790, King Arthur Flour is now an employee-owned company that offers everything from baking products to educational baking programs—all with the mission to “inspire, educate and bake.” PJ Hamel, King Arthur Flour’s resident writer, shows how Google+ helps the company share the joy of baking with people all around the world.



As we mentioned the other week, Google+ Pages helps you share relevant content to your stream with the right people using Google+ Circles. PJ Hamel, King Arthur Flour’s resident writer, uses Google+ circles to share certain recipes with specific groups of interested customers.



Here are some more tips for sharing to your stream:

• Share visual content. Add photos, videos, or links to your posts. Simply drag the photos, videos, or links directly to the share box. To add a link, just find the icon that's next to the URL in your browser window and drag it to the share box.
• Grab someone’s attention by mentioning them in posts. Say you’re creating a post based on a user’s question, or you want to respond directly to a customer in the comments. To really grab their attention, try “plussing” (or “mentioning”) them in your post or comment. This will alert the customer to your comment, and bring them back to the post. To mention someone:
  
  1. Type +[person's name] or @[person's name]. (You can also type their email address instead of their name.)
  2. As you type, an autocomplete list of people will appear.
  3. Select the person you want to mention.
• Add style to your post.
  
  1. Use underscores to italicize. _ italics_ → italics
     
  2. Use asterisks to bold. * bold* → bold
  3. Use hyphens to strikethrough. - strikethrough - → strikethrough

Want to learn more? Visit the Google+ Your Business site, and stay tuned for more Google+ stories and tips from small businesses. You can also watch all our Google+ page stories on YouTube.

As you share to your Stream, what kinds of content have you found are most engaging with your followers? Join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page and tag your posts #mybusinessstory.

Posted by Evelyn Lee, Google+ Pages Associate Product Marketing Manager

Knowing Your Business

One of the most important things in being a successful trader is knowing your business. Sounds simple, but what does it really mean?

Well, mastery comes with time. 10,000 hours they say. 10,000 hours doing the same thing over and over. Henry Ford worked that one out when he decided to build cars using an assembly line. Doing skilled work with less skilled workers.

My basic discretionary trading business is buying or selling at the 33EMA and covering at the outside keltner bands. Very specific and very simple. I do that over and over. After my 10,000+ hours I know my business. Having a very specific trading plan and sticking to it, doing the same trades over and over, developing that muscle memory, mastery comes.

Oil is the flavor of the day for me. All I needed to do was recognize the trend and trade the pullbacks. The news in the Middle East pushed prices here. I'm not convinced we can stay at these prices unless things really hot up in that part of the globe.

The Magic Within

THE MAGIC WITHIN AND THE LITTLE BOOK THAT COULD

That's what I've been calling The Book of Lost Souls, the book that started my path to publication. I’ve always loved to write. I’ve always loved the way imagination and words blend on a page, the way they transport a reader to faraway worlds, or right next door, where witches live. From the time I was very young, books were an amazing world to me. There was no greater joy than going to the library with my mother whose love of books knew no measure. When I was very young, my mother read to me every night. As I grew older, we’d talk about the books we were reading.

Even as a young child, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. But, writing wasn’t what paid the bills. I got a regular job and life went on, although I still dreamed of writing. My father always told me to believe in myself and to never give up on what I firmly believed in. A few years after his death, I took up writing again. My mother, who was now ill and who had moved in with my husband and me, was happy to read what I wrote, or to set the table in order to give me a few more minutes of writing time.

And so I wrote and edited and revised. Just before the book was ready to send to agents, my mother died. I set the book aside. Writing was too painful, too full of memories.

But, the stories in my head wouldn’t let up, and so after a few years I started writing again. This time, I wrote about a teen witch named Ivy and her life in a small town, and I quickly fell in love with the story and the eclectic group of characters. I think of it as Buffy meets Harry Potter. When I typed the last line, I actually felt a pang of sorrow—I didn't want to say goodbye. Ivy and her story became The Book of Lost Souls, and after polishing it up, I sent it off to agents. Plenty were interested and requested the full manuscript. Unfortunately, most of them thought the book was too light. Too cute. Too Disney. They offered to read whatever else I had, as long as it was darker. Darker sells! Or so they said.

So, after two revisions for two separate agents that eventually didn't pan out (they said the book still had a lighthearted feel to it that wouldn't appeal to publishing houses), I set The Book of Lost Souls aside and started working on an outline for a much darker book.

It was around this time that the economy began to collapse—hard—and I was given the pink slip on Friday the 13^th, right after I had completed a project that saved the company $400,000 annually. Say goodbye to eighteen years of loyal service! Suddenly, writing a darker, more dystopian book about the afterlife on top of losing my job seemed too much to take. Still, I recalled my father’s wisdom of believing in myself even when no one else did. I wrote and finished the next book, Don’t Fear the Reaper, in about seven months.

Still unemployed despite literally hundreds of applications, I began to worry we would lose our home or deplete our savings before I found a job. My career in IT was gone—off shored as they call it. I also wondered if I’d ever see any of my books published. I was so close to getting an agent so many times. Agents wrote back: You’re a strong writer. Or, The Book of Lost Souls is a great story and is well-written, but it’s not for me.

Nearly every morning, my inbox was filled with rejection letters from jobs and agents, yet I tried to stay positive. I kept repeating my father’s words to believe, to never give up. For every rejection, I sent out twice as many applications, twice as many query letters. I just tried harder.

I had been querying Reaper for about three months when I got an editorial letter from one of New York’s biggest literary agencies who'd had The Book of Lost Souls for nearly a year. A year! But, the letter was so enthusiastic about the story and my writing that I sat down and made every last revision they suggested. I turned it in and waited. Months went by. In the end, they rejected the story—not because they didn't love it, but because in the year and change they’d had the manuscript, another client had submitted a proposal for a story about a teen witch. Conflict of interest, they called it.

And that was that. My novel, the book that was finished, was dumped for someone else’s book that hadn't yet been written. Somewhat angry and depressed, I set The Book of Lost Souls aside. Again. By now, I was at the end of my rope. I was still unemployed and out of unemployment benefits. The only work I could find was the occasional short-term computer job, some tech writing gigs, or dog-sitting. Nothing full-time, and certainly nothing we could count on.

If the near-miss with Super Agency wasn’t enough, I found myself running into similar situations with Don't Fear the Reaper. Now, agents were saying, Too dark! But, you're a talented writer and we'd love to see other work. Or, You’re capable of incredibly incisive scenes—the opener is still one of the best things I read all year. And, my personal favorite, In this economy...

It was then that I learned about self-published authors such as Karen McQuestion and Amanda Hocking. I decided to go indie as well, starting with The Book of Lost Souls. What did I have to lose? A lot if I didn’t figure out a way for our household to stop hemorrhaging money. The only problem? I had no idea where to start. I sent an email to Ms. McQuestion, in the hopes she could point me in the right direction. She was so incredibly kind! Not only did she reply, she sent me a wealth of information on self-publishing. Today, she shares all that information on her blog. I’m incredibly grateful to her.

I got a cover I could afford with the help of another indie, Sam Torode. Two editor friends went over my work. Finally, I formatted the book and the rest is history. I uploaded The Book of Lost Souls in early March, and it’s been getting consistently great reviews ever since. As for being too lighthearted? I receive emails all the time from people who love that the book is funny, upbeat, and clean.

Within my first five weeks of self-publishing, I hit three best seller lists on Amazon. Me. An indie author without a publicist or a big agency or publisher behind them. Just me, my computer, my loving husband, and the devotion of two dogs at my feet.

And the other, darker book? After some revisions, Don't Fear the Reaper debuted in late September 2011. On its first day, the book reached lucky #13 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases, Children’s Fiction, Spine-Tingling Horror.

I’m only sorry that my parents aren’t here to see this. I took my father’s advice and my mother’s faith and reinvented myself. I still dog-sit and take on small computer jobs and tech writing gigs to help keep us afloat financially. But one day, I hope that my hard work will pay even more of the bills. Until then, I’m at peace with the way things are.

Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Great advice. And so, The Book of Lost Souls, the book that nearly wasn’t, became the little book that could. I’m a firm believer that hopes and dreams are something to hold onto and fight for. Believe in the magic that is you. Keep your dreams close, and set your imagination free.

I’d like to dedicate my section of this anthology to readers everywhere—words alone cannot express how much I appreciate you believing in me. You’re every bit as much a part of the magic as Ivy herself.

So, thank you, Dear Reader. Sincerely. Because, every author with a story to tell writes with you in mind.

Find me on my blog

Twitter

FB

Amazon

B&N

iTunes

Smashwords

Job Prospects For Online News Article Writers Are Expanding

Electronic news has nearly replaced print media. More and more opportunities are available for web-based article writers. Today, you do not have to have a journalism degree to write electronic news articles. A Bachelor's or an Associate's degree and a concentrated field (or fields) of study can be sufficient in most cases, but you still need to know the basics of how to write a news article.

Writing a news article is fairly straightforward. Some writer's enjoy this form of writing because it involves mainly facts. Although news articles can require some creativity, there is not an overwhelming amount of creative writing involved; they follow a simple format. Once it is mastered, you can crank out as many articles that you care to write.

A news article reports information about a recent event. The first step in writing an article is to choose a newsworthy event. The writer may want to explore an important event that would be of interest to his or her readership. Therefore, it is imperative that the writer knows the reader demographics. Knowing their interests will help the writer narrow down his or her selection topics.

The lead paragraph or introduction presents the most important facts. This is where you answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and sometimes how. If you can answer these questions, given the information you researched and collected, you will have all that you need to write your lead paragraph. The information you collect is from conducting thorough research, interviewing eyewitnesses, and fact-checking processes.

Sometimes, it helps to use an outline or matrix to help the writer coordinate information. You may want to create a framework that lists who, what, where, when, why, and how, and beside each, insert bullet information. That way, you have an easy to read draft outlines to write your story. The outline should also include a supporting facts line. Again, you can bullet the details for the purpose of the outline. Lastly, it should include a section that includes quotes and fact-checking information.

When writing the article, keep your audience in mind. The story should be one that relates to the readership, or it should be a topic that may appeal to a different demographics as well as the target audience, thereby increasing readership. Readers instantly connect to authoritative sources, so whenever possible, include quotes from eyewitnesses or even experts that can offer indirect information to support your article.

The headline is probably the most important creative writing your article will entail. The headline is very important because it is the main feature that attracts the reader's attention and lures him or her into reading the article. Consequently, it must be dazzling! The headline states the article's main idea, using only a few words. Some writers come up with the headline first and proceed to write from there. Others wait until the article is finished and then derive a headline from what is written.

Applying for Scholarships Online - Tips For Writing Effective Scholarship Essays

Are you going to college? The good news is there is an abundance of money that you can tap for a free college education by applying for scholarships online. The bad news is you will have to write an essay to get it. If you truly feel it is bad news that you need to write an essay, then, you need this set of tips to make sure that you do get that money.

The first thing that you need to know is that you will need to put the essay question into a context for you to be able to write a convincing, compelling essay. If you cannot contextualize your thoughts, they will be just like cymbals clanging, making a noise but not moving anyone's heart. The question is: how do you contextualize the essay question so that you can write it excellently? You will need 2 kinds of information. One is about the sponsor. You should know what cause they represent, or what is the nature of their business, what is their stance about social corporate responsibility, or what are the things that they are averse to.

The other is your stance. How do you look at the essay question, what are your passions surrounding it? If it aligned with the sponsor's stance, make a good point of presenting why you share their views, and if you are opposed, make a strong argument of your opinion when applying for scholarships online.

When you write like this, you are not just theoretically answering an essay question which is usually hollow. You are writing a commitment, an engagement, a promise. If you can do this you will me across as someone who the sponsors can count on.

The second thing that you need to do is that no one can write a perfect essay the first time. You need to put it down, rest your mind, the reread your essay. Check for excessive emotion or too wordy sentences or phrases. Look out for innocuous words or statements that are better rewritten. Be alert for breaks in ideas as this will lower the value of your work.

Finally, keep a keen eye for spelling or grammatical errors. A perfect work is just that, perfect, with no errors of content or structure.Writing an essay as good as this one discussed here will surely bring you college education money by applying for scholarships online. Getting a scholarship for college does not have to be so hard. Apply now.

Oil

Oil is the focus of the markets. It's clear that Iran needs to be put back into it's box. Raising world tensions through terrorism has changed all our lives. It's time that we pushed back.


Oil has been pressured upwards not only by speculative buying but by a big  increase in oil option volumes. As market makers sell calls, they have to buy Oil to hedge.


I traded Light Crude yesterday afternoon. This morning was very quiet in London. Everything was very quiet. It was a matter of grabbing what there was between the Euro, DAX and one oil trade.


This Euro 5 tick Renko chart is very clean and easy to trade.

KEYS TO GREATER PROFITS

In the 17th Annual Government Contractor Industry Survey released Monday by Grant Thornton LLP, the"failure to seek compensation for out-of-scope work contributes to low profit rates."  The vast majority of respondents to the survey said their procedures for identifying possible claims were either somewhat effective or not effective at all.  Eighty-one percent of the surveyed companies said they received requests for extra work without a contract modification.  As Grant Thornton says:  "Such requests by government personnel are not consistent with the government's own procurement regulations, and the frequency of such requests should be a matter of serious concern among government officials."

Grant Thornton also reported that the relationship between contractors and government officials had deteriorated during the past year and only 22% of those surveyed said contract administration issues had been resolved efficiently.

This is not good news but it is consistent with our experience over the years.  As the government contract management workforce is reduced (as it has been), contract management efficiency and effectiveness deteriorates.  Moreover, as experienced contract people move on and are replaced with the less experienced, contractors find the workforce becomes undereducated on the complex rules governing government procurement.

As we have often said before, the antidote is available if the contractors will just use it.  Contractors may not have much if any control over the depth and knowledge of the federal procurement workforce but they can control their own behavior.  Contractors need to increase their knowledge of the rules and exercise their rights to enforce them.  Pure and simple.  Know the rules and have the guts to enforce them.  "The failure to seek compensation for out-of-scope work contributes to low profit rates."  There is a changes clause in these contracts and it is meant to be used.  Don't do extra work without a modification or if you do, submit your claim and insist that a modification be negotiated.

There are efficient and economical ways to resolve claims for additional compensation.  One way, short of litigation, is described in detail at our consulting services web site, www.spriggsconsultingservices.com/resolve_disputes_shtml.  We also have strategies and formulas for moving your claims through the appeals process smoothly and quickly.  To learn more, contact us at bill@spriggslawgroup.com.

bill@spriggslawgroup.com