14 May 09 Getting Writing Ideas

In the last article, Writing When You Can’t, we discussed about getting out of writer’s block. In this article we will discuss about from where to get an idea or ideas to write upon. This is important as it was the lack of ideas only that pushed you into this dark well.

There is not any particular set location in space and time where you can look for writing ideas, rather you can get writing ideas from almost anywhere and at anytime. Magazines, books, blogs, periodicals, forums, movies, questions asked by others, answers to those questions, old blog posts, old articles, or your immediate physical surrounding can be a good starting point. However, there are many ways to get ideas to write upon, you should only choose the idea that fit into the bigger picture keeping in mind the nature of the medium and the expectation of the target audience from it. If you are just starting out with writing then avoid taking any complex topic, and try to keep the sentences short.

Be a voracious reader. Books can be a good source for sourcing writing ideas. Try reading books from different genre and as many as you can. Blogs can also be effective in sourcing writing ideas. Do not confine yourself to reading blogs from your niche only as reading blogs from your niche alone will limit your ability to see the bigger picture, the context in which your readers see your blog. Reading blogs from different niches will also infuse freshness to your thinking. Writing updated versions of old articles can also be considered. This will open many writing avenues for you.

The bottom line is to be observant. Keep close eye on the surrounding and see what is changing and what effect will it have. Try to look for small changes; these are the things that at times have bigger impact. Always keep a pocket notebook with you to write down the observations you make and the ideas that come to you. This repertoire will keep you away from getting into the writer’s block.

Tags: Array, Avenues, Bottom Line, Expectation, Freshness, Genre, Good Starting Point, Magazines Books, Niche, Niches, Periodicals, Pocket Notebook, Reader Books, Reading Books, Sentences, Set Location, Small Changes, Space And Time, Target Audience, Voracious Reader, Writing Ideas

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21 Apr 09 10 Everyday Sales Mistakes to Avoid (Part – I)

Selling is an art, which some people have mastered, and others just hope to. The difference between the sales haves and have-nots are not the lack of understanding of some huge gigantic concepts and theories, rather, most of the time the difference between the sales success, and failure to register a sale is everyday soft skills and introspection. Your presentations (PPTs) do not make a sale, they are not capable of making one; it is you soft skills, your honest connection with yourself and demeanor that help you register one sale after another.

Let’s give you a personal account in brief to explain this more clearly. Couple of years back, I was employed in a space selling team of a national newspaper (for convenience sake let’s call it X-Paper). My stay there was not long, but I learned quite a few things there. While in X-Paper, I made a friend, who was very polished, professional, and stiff and had a quirky sense of humor. One fine day, he was not in his usual mood, not cracking his kind of jokes, which made me ask, how he was doing. In response to this he started verbally bashing our bosses (we had a handful of them). As he said, his issue was with the way our bosses lick the clients boot by being polite (overly) to make a sale (perhaps he was referring o their soft skills), and to meet their targets. He felt, it was not being professional. He went on saying he was against such things; one should do what he used to do, make a good PPT, put all the necessary information in it, and deliver the presentation, as best as one could. And that according to him was how sales should be made; no personal chit-chat, no small talks. What he was suggesting was this: do not be friendly (over, as he put it) with the people on the other side of the table, they are just business associates, so, instead of showing concern to their matters, we should focus on solving problems in their business. As he said, we should focus on what problem clients’ business had, and how our product was going to solve it.

After couple of months in the only corporate job, I quit and started a viral marketing and buzz generation agency (I come from MARCOM background), and hired this person for sales job. Six months into the position, he was still looking to make his first sale. I tried convincing him the other method, but he did not listen, and shifted the blame on our agency being a new thing. His point was well taken. Interestingly even when he was with X-Paper, a very well established niche newspaper, his sale was still not justifying the salary he drew. I was naïve then, and due to lots of other reasons my venture failed, but while taking its last breath it taught me the power of soft skills. The power of a simple smile, saying sorry, listening carefully, politely disagreeing when the difference in opinion arises, and admiring heartily when come across wonderful thing. All in all it taught me the wisdom that lies in being a good human.

Why my friend from X-paper despite those glittering MBA degree from a reputed college failed in doing what my bosses found it every day affair? Most of my bosses did not even have an MBA degree, they were plain vanilla graduates! I am not planning to kill you by the length of this post, so return tomorrow and get the answers. Till then, so long!

Tags: Array, Business Associates, Chit Chat, Convenience Sake, Demeanor, Handful, Introspection, Kind Of Jokes, Nots, One Fine Day, Personal Account, Quirky Sense, Sales Success, Sense Of Humor, Solving Problems, Success And Failure, Targets

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15 Mar 09 Techie Advice | Go Green Technology!

As much as technology is great for using the internet, running a personal business, or just being socially knowledgeable in this day and age, many IT professionals do not consider the ecological drawbacks of their industry. Little by little, however, inventions are coming out in the market that can change this. If you want to get an idea of what is out there, here are two energy efficient pieces of technology:

MSI has an eco-friendly MSI Wind Nettop CS120. The size of this desktop PC hard drive is about 11.1 x 9.45 x 2.56 inches, while including a slot-load DVD burner, an Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz processor, a 160GB hard-drive and a 1GB of DDR2 SODIMM memory. This desktop PC is reported to save about 90% on energy costs!
Marvell Technologies has a plug in computer that is about the size of an adapter! It is called the SheevaPlug and it also saves on 90% of electricity use. It has a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of DRAM and 512MB of flash memory storage. It connects to the world-wide web through Gigabit Ethernet or through a USB port. For all you Linux fans, this mini-computer support Linux 2.6 distributions. For $99 this turn you into a green techie in no time. Considering the amount of plastic that it takes to build a regular sized computer, energy efficiency is not its only highlight!

These two are not as eye-catching as the technology projects featured on the Greener Gadgets Design Competition website. The SheevaPlug reminds me of Blink, a photocell controller for outlets. I know, I know! Blink isn’t a mini-computer for your entertainment needs. But it sure acts like one by giving users the opportunity to program their media centers, security programs, or even their lighting and housing temperatures. Basically, Blink blinks. Its infrared photocell acts like an eye that reacts to natural light. Its “eyelid” adjusts to what it “sees”. I could really use a product like this that would reduce the large amount of energy I waste after writing these blog posts!

However, my all time favorite “Go Green!” technology is the ASUS Bamboo laptop. This is something you have to see to believe! It reminds me of the old “woodie” cars of the 1950s. The ASUS touchpad for this laptop is bamboo themed too. I wonder though if Bamboo laptops will be as popular when they have a hefty price tag of more than $3,000? Maybe they’ll have a cheaper bamboo desktop in the future. They already have a bamboo mouse!

Tags: 160gb Hard Drive, Array, Competition Website, Computer Support, Design Competition, Desktop Pc, Energy Costs, Energy Efficiency, Flash Memory Storage, Green Technology, Inventions, Mini Computer, Nettop, Personal Business, Photocell Controller, Security Programs, Sized Computer, Sodimm Memory, Support Linux, Technology Projects, Usb Port

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14 May 09 Getting Writing Ideas

21 Apr 09 10 Everyday Sales Mistakes to Avoid (Part – I)

15 Mar 09 Techie Advice | Go Green Technology!

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