How can I write content?

Many people will tell you that you don't have to write your own content. Which is true. But content writing isn't done by a computer in the middle of nowhere. If you aren't writing your content then someone else is! Someone is sat at their computer trying to create your perfect piece of 700 word content to be posted on your blog or website. How do they do it? How can you start writing your own?

What am I writing about?

Content writing is about a certain area or topic. So start by brain storming what you know about the topic. Get a piece of paper, write the topic in the middle then add words that your associate with that topic around it. If you don't know about the subject then you can start with a google search to see what is currently out there to research and understand about your market. No matter what the subject there will be something online you will be able to read up about.

How can I write about it?

If you gather up some key points from your brain storm or research then start phrasing sentences around those points. It wont be easy, so don't expect to write 100 words when you first put pen to paper, don't even expect to write 10 the first time you attempt writing your own content. Just relax and type or write your first ideas. Then review and re-write. Before you know it you'll have your first piece of handwritten content. If you keep writing every day then you will find it easier to write your own content. Saving you a little bit of money each month.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Cystic Fibrosis Trust

2nd July

Donation Bag

Reg Charity number 1079049

Cystic Fibrosis? My initial reaction was what is Cystic Fibrosis?

'Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease'

Okay, How come I've not heard of it before? and What does it do?

'Cystic Fibrosis causes the body to produce thick secretions that particularly affect the lungs and digestive tract.....Symptoms of CF can include troublesome cough, repeated chest infections, prolonged diarrhoea and poor weigh gain'

There is currently no cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

This donation bag asks for clean clothing, household textiles, soft toys and shoes. It also states that over £70,000 has been raised so far! The bag is due for collection on Tuesday and will be collected by a commercial partner 'Who is sharing a portion of the prceeds'. Personally I'm not a fan of when other companies dip into charity donations and I hope that it is just to cover costs rather than to turn a profit.

Unfortunately I am unable to gather enough together to fill a bag for collection. But I decided to look online at alternative ways to donate and I was surprised at the variety of options available.

How to Donate

There are four options for straight forward donations :

1. Justgiving.com or Virgin money giving

Justgiving.com is a popular site, lots of people use it to raise money and raise awareness for a specific cause. It has the option to write a summary and target amount.

2. You can set up a direct debit.

A good way to show continuing support by picking a specific amount each month to donate. After a while you may not even notice the money leaving your account.

3. You can call our donation hotline direct on 0300 373 1040.

4. You can send your donation in the post to Cystic Fibrosis Trust, 11 London Road, Bromley, BR1 1BY. Please make your cheque payable to Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

These two methods will tend to be preferred by the older generation. Those who have become more accustomed to what is now deemed as old fashioned methods of payment considering the popularity of online banking.

The fifth option provided is the one most often heard about through word of mouth

5. You can get involved in fundraising!

This option is more popular as it can create a sense of social bonding by organising an event or a conversation starter when asking for a donation.

There are National Campaigns such as Great Strides which are held during the summer months to early autumn. The first date is 3rd July in liverpool and the last date is 11th september which is held in Northern Ireland. Maybe you are like me and would prefer an event for the kid at heart it might be better to join in the Big Bounce which takes place in October. It's all about the bounce whether you are bouncing on a space hopper, trampoline, pogo stick or you could even transfer the bounce to a bouncy ball. The website for Cystic Fibrosis has lots of ideas on events including treks and climbs which have a minimum sponsorship amount.

To put it simply, I took the time to research more about the charity and Cystic Fibrosis itself when i saw the donation bag come through the door. Although many will have just thrown the bag away without a second thought or moment of reflection upon what it even said. Just another piece of junk for the bin.

Yet this is a charity like many others that are spending money in the hope that they will get more donations by contacting people directly. A small business may also use this mail shot approach. Not for donations but for attracting new customers by location. Although as far as I am aware very few solid connections are made using this blanket technique. There is no emotional connection to the company when you are one in thousands that have received this item. It may seem like an easy way to get in the door, but is it any different to the salesman that knocks? at least you don't throw them in the bin as soon as you see them.

This approach maybe very successful, although I've not heard of many successful businesses that have solely been made via this method.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

Together We will beat Cancer

Cancer Research Uk

Registered charity number 1089464

This A4 fundraising pack which I requested (not a random direct mail campaign luckily) from Cancer Research UK arrived on 24th June. After an initial shock as the thickness of the envelope when opened there is a letter and a glossy booklet all addressed directly to Miss Burton.

' Thank you so much for choosing to support Cancer Research Uk. Our vision of beating cancer is an enormous challenge, but amazing people like you are helping us achieve it.'

The letter then goes through what has been included within the pack and how fundraising is an 'activity to suit everybody'. It also brings up how 'most of us have been affected by cancer' and how the advances in treatment that have saved thousands of lives. 'But one in three of us will still get cancer at some point in our lifetime'. The letter finishes with giving more contact details and a final thanks.

Money Return Form

Has an explanation on who to address the cheque to and information on attaching sponsor form. It also explains that money will be allocated to you, which i presume means a way to keep a track over your donations over time.

Fundraising Pack

' A simple and inspiring guide with everything you need to know to organise your fundraising activity'

A glossy, high quality booklet with full colour pictures. The first page is an introduction to the pack following a similar style to the covering letter, thanking the reader for their support. Pages 2-3 go through headlines and research in action showing those who have raised money and how they have been affected by cancer. Pages 4-5 then shows where the money donated goes '80p in every £1 you donate goes directly towards our work to beat cancer'. The amounts shown to show how much makes a difference range from £22 up to £20,000. Page 6-7 show even more successful fundraising events. Pages 8-9 are hints and tips for running your own event, with a background featuring runners feet and tarmac. Pages 10-11 are about promotion with tips on media, how to ask for donations, gift aid, as well as tips for getting your boss involved. It also shows a list of trusted/recommended donation sites. Page 12 gives contact details for sharing your story and a final thanks. Page 13 is a folded paper holder which contains more information :

- Ideas to inspire fundraising

- Sponsorship Form

- 12 'Can You' Invites

- 1 ' You Can' Poster

- 1 fold out donation box

What can you do?

- Ideas to inspire fundraising

This 8 page booklet shows a wide variety of ideas from spending a week dressed as Mr T to creating an evening of relaxation by a sponsored home pampering night. Lots of ideas to encourage events no matter what your interests are.

Summary

The pack contains a lot of detail, it is free to request and is of avery high quality. With the continuing use of florescent pink it has a more feminine feel which is supported by lots of women and children being used as examples. Cancer Research Uk also conducted a follow up call which was from the area leader to find out more about how much I wanted to raise, what time scale i am working on and why I decided to start fundraising. I was informed of contact details to call back for any additional advice and to check out what events are currently being planned. It was refreshing to know they follow up on those who request information packs.

What happens now

For me, I will be planning my fundraising events to run over the next year. At current a lot of people have recently taken part in sponsored runs and there are even more events going on across the UK. I highly recommend checking out what is going on in your area.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

Which charity should I donate to?

Within the UK there are 161,931 registered charities (29th June) with each unique and all supporting a wide variety of causes. The main question is, which charity to choose.

I know someone who....

Many who donate to charities do it because of an emotional connection to a cause, especially with charities that have a health focus. Some charities will be well known examples such as Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation who have sponsorship by many big companies and have high profile events to help raise money. Smaller local charities which depend on local patrons and events, will rely on continuing support for donations.

So who should I donate to?

No charity is better or more than deserving of your donations than another. You should donate to a cause that you support, either through personal experience of the charity or because they hold similar values to your own. You can always support more than one charity, it's not like a battle between brands.

How much should I give?

As much or as little as you want/can afford, every amount will make a difference. There are other ways you can donate too. You can volunteer and show your support or arrange an event. The best was to find out how to help and what is needed is to contact the charity directly and they will be more than willing to let you know.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

How can I improve my grades?

The summer term turns into one of the most stressful for students across the globe. With exams and coursework deadlines, so many people are now debating what they could have differently to get better results.

The University of Central Lancashire run a program for those just starting at university called Flying Start. The program runs for about a week and is designed to help you prepare for starting you degree. There are sessions on time management, money management as well as an opportunity to experience living in student halls.

Advice that is heard from all tutors is to revise and prepare weeks before your deadline. But most students, even those with the best intentions, watch as their plans go out the window within days of promising to stick to their study plan. This is mainly due to loosing track of time. An easy way to realise how little time you have per project is to predict/record a week. It's a bit precise but it will help that the less preparation the else time you have.

It's easy to do and if you prefer looking and editing things on a screen it can be done in excel. Just write the days of the week in a row and the 24 hours in a day down in a column.

The next step is to plot out what you'd like to get done during the week. Remember to include 7-8 hours sleep as well as time to eat and shower. The table then starts to get more full.

Then If you include a 9-5 lecture/classes per day, making it a 40 hour week over 5 days, 1 hour per day for studying making it 5 hours per week.

It's starting to look even fuller, the final part to add in is a part time job. Which for this example the job will take up 12 hours from the week.

The plan is now looking very full and there isn't even any travelling time or any social time either.

So will time management help improve my grades?

Yes! But it's important to play as hard as you work, otherwise you'll never stick to your studies. This is useful to keep in mind for next term but what can i do now my work has been submitted? The best thing to do is look over the work you submitted and any notes to see how you can improve. See where you made any mistakes.

Use the time available now to read any text books you didn't have chance to before. Work on punctuation, spelling and grammar. Practice mental maths and any equations you've struggled with before.

The key thing to remember is that you can always learn more and there is no set way to study.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

I want an internship. Now!

In the current job market, experience is everything. Within any profession your skills and qualifications are what get you noticed on paper. Having the right attitude is what gets you a job.

I've just finished my second year at university and because of this I am already looking at what skills I will need to get a job. From various searches across sites such as http://jobs.brandrepublic.com/ most the positions ask for good grades in english and maths and computer skills. Then they tend to get more specific to each role, management training, event management, account handling, all of these can be included under the sub-heading of experience.

Within the field of advertising and marketing many positions ask for a minimum of 1 years experience. Trying to get this year of experience whilst studying can prove to be problematic, if you are lucky you may have a placement year included in your course. Getting this experience may be difficult although there is always an availability for the person that is persistent.

So how much will i get paid?

Many internships are at present unpaid, some companies will pay for your travel expenses although this is becoming more rare. But what you can learn during these unpaid internship is of much more valuable that the ever rising price of petrol. I met a new employee at an advertising agency who described how he managed to get him dream job. He had heard about the position but when he called up to find out about the role he discovered it had already been filled, upon hearing this news he asked if it would be possible to work for a few weeks to prove his worth. 3 months later he was provided with a full time position within the agency and re-embursed for his previous spending. Just goes to show if you are willing/able to put in the time for a company you can earn a lot of respect, a glowing reference and contacts within the industry.

So where should i look?

You can start with on a wide variety of websites such as :

www.inspiringinterns.com

www.fledglings.net

www.milkround.com

www.reed.co.uk

www.step.org.uk

www.ratemyplacement.co.uk

Alternatively you can try create your internship. Contact a company you are interested in working for, do some background research, find out what they are about, who the key players are also gives a great opportunity to find out what is currently available. Remember to pick up the phone and ring, don't just email or throw a cv in the post with a 'Dear Sir or Madam' style covering letter. Call up, speak to someone, strike up a conversation. Ask for some advice and try establish a meeting to meet them face to face. This will give you the chance to show off your skills and personality. You never know what might happen because of it.

Most importantly though make sure you are asking for experience and not demanding to be put on the payroll.

That's All for Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton

What should I do for this campaign?

"Don't come into this office with problems, only solutions"

Not exactly the best thing to hear from your boss but some of the best advice out there when it comes to the workplace. Especially when you consider that learning is a process one that never stops. Mainly due to teh fact it is impossible to know everything and there will ALWAYS be a difference of opinion.

But what has this got to do with marketing or advertising?

As a student I am expected to conduct my own research and locate supporting arguments or case studies for my academic work. But in preparation for entering the job market, I will be dealing with real projects, real businesses with no margin for error. With this is the added disadvantage of loosing the academic experts to check the work before the results are published.

So what should i do for this campaign?

When working with a client, it is important to keep some basic rules in mind:

1. Get to know the product/service - It is vital you know what you are selling, if you don't know then how do you expect the customer to understand your message?

2.Get to know the problem - Before you start yelling at your screen, if theer wasn't a problem then you wouldn't be working on this campaign. It can be as simple as increasing sales or awareness for the company or as complex as launching a product into an unknown market.

3. Know your limits - the world is your oyster but time is your enemy and keep in mind your clients budget, money doesn't grow on trees

4. Come up with answers - Don't focus on what you can't do think about what you can, low budget? Maybe consider an online campaign opposed to a tv or print campaign, it time is your restriction maybe you could organise an event launch.

5. Keep it simple - remember every campaign will be designed and executed differently with unique results, don't expect everything to go to plan. So don't make it impossible to amend.

The most important thing to remeber is that there is no cure, no jim will fix it answer. Just hard work, so give it complete focus and you can reap the benefits.

That's All For Now

Amy

@MissAJBurton