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Writing Tips: 5 Habits of Highly Successful Writers

Are you still struggling to get to the level of writing that you want? Are you tired of spinning your wheels? Are your motivated and ready to use the same 5 writing tips that experts in the field have used to be successful? Then this article is for you. If you stick with these 5 highly effective habits for the next year, you are guaranteed to be closer to your writing goals than you are right now.

  • Want to right a great book? Then be sure to pay attention to Writing Tip Habit #1
  • Want to write better? Then be sure to pay attention to Writing Tip Habit #2
  • Want to use the magic of your own writing assistant? Then check out Writing Tip Habit #3
  • Want to jump into the publishers ring and get your work noticed? Then Habits #4 and #5 will push you in that direction.

So, let’s get started:

How to Write a Book using this Writing Tip: Habit #1

Write every single day. That’s 7 days a week. If your goal is to write a book, then you can achieve that by putting your words, your thoughts, down on paper each day. Before you know it, you will have quite a collection of material that you can use to assemble your first book. If you are writing articles for an article marketing campaign, then you will have a great collection of material to use and repurpose to promote your business.

How to Write Better using this Writing Tip: Habit #2

Great writers are also voracious readers. Take at least 1 hour each day to read something, but read with a purpose. It’s a good idea to have a notebook close at hand so that you can jot down notes, phrases, words, and sentence structures you like from the material that you are reading. This helps you find your own voice, your own rhythm and your own style.

Empower your Subconscious Assistant with this Writing Tip: Habit #3

Establish a writing routine. By writing at the same time and in the same place each day, it sends a signal to your subconscious mind that it’s time to work and write amazing content when you go to that place. This sounds unbelievable, I know. But the mind is very powerful and establishing great writing habits like this allows you to focus better.

Take a Chance-Stop Pretending-by using this Writing Tip: Habit #4

Don’t “play” at being a writer. You are lucky to be writing in this current time. In the past, the only real option for a writer was to get published in print form through a magazine, newspaper, movie script, or book. Today, the internet allows you to publish your material online with a couple clicks of a mouse. You can publish on your own blog, submit articles to article directories, self-publish in print or electronically, as well as approach the traditional publishing methods that are still used. Your options are almost endless. At first, not a soul may find or read your material; however, as you go along you will get better not only at writing stuff that people want to read, but driving traffic to your content. This knowledge comes through content marketing and article marketing strategies.

Don’t Fall Prey to Writer’s ADD with this Writing Tip: Habit #5

Finish every piece of writing you start. This is tougher than it sounds. Writers usually have a brain full of ideas that they want to explore. As a result, there are a lot of half-great writing pieces that will never see the light of day. Remedy this by finishing everything and then send it out there. Sometimes you can hire a ghostwriter to take your idea, polish it and complete, and have it ready for publication. Other times you just have to discipline yourself to finish. Let the universe know that you have arrived!

But what about all those other great ideas? Go ahead and capture the thought and inspiration. Jot down notes or record your thoughts for those additional projects. Put them on your own version of an editorial calendar so that you have a set date to start that writing project. Then, when the date arrives start writing, finish the piece, and then publish it.

With these 5 writing tips for writing a book or other content, you will develop the kind of habits that successful business people use. Don’t fool yourself, writing is a business. And, if you want your business to sustain you so that enjoy this great gift more often, then you must establish habits that move you closer to success.

Every day is a chance to write better than you did the day before. It’s a process, it’s a journey, and it’s a pretty fantastic one.

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Ways to Save When Planning Your Destination Wedding

Planning a destination wedding is an exciting adventure. Because you are not having a traditional wedding there are things you will need to consider. First and foremost remember that you will be asking friends and family to travel to your wedding and possibly take on extra expenses that they might not have done normally. Also you will want to consider your budget and how you would like to spend your money. If you know this and are sensitive to everyone’s needs, you will be able to find ways to save for both you and your guests on your wedding day.

Let’s begin with the timing of your wedding. Timing is everything, you will need to consider the season, holidays, and any special events that may take place in any one destination. Depending on the occasion, your travel might be manageable, but the flowers may not. And choosing the low season is a great option, but you will need to deal with weather. How about the date and day of your wedding. Since you are already traveling to your destination you may find a better deal if you have your wedding during the week.

Travel deals are also crucial to your budget. Take your time to find the best travel deals available. Don’t jump on the first flight. Find sites that have fare predictors and or flight aggregators. They will help you find a good deal that you can book right away. Try also to fly direct because then you won’t pay extra for multiple stops. You may want to find an airline that has destination airline packages that will give you a discount for you and your guests. There may be package deals available, but sometimes booking airfare and hotels separately will give you a better deal. If you do your research then the beginning steps of planning your wedding will seem easy.

Now consider your budget and decide which details are the most important to you on your wedding day. Some ways to save are by shopping for favors and gifts in the off season. If you are having your wedding in June try and buy any beach themed wedding favors in November or December. You might find some savings and don’t forget to shop around. There are several wedding sites to choose from and each has something different to offer. Another way to save is by being a “DIY Bride.” By making favors, printing invitations, and stuffing your own Welcome Bags you can save a lot. Have you thought about your registry? You can always register for the normal wedding gifts, but having a honeymoon registry will help to pay for the little extras. Dinner, a spa treatment, or an excursion are perfect gifts to make things special once you are married.

Over the last few months, you have planned most of your wedding details, but here are some ways to save a little extra cash once you arrive at your destination. At your wedding ceremony site the first thing you can do is use nature as your decoration. There is no reason to go crazy with flowers or candles because you already have a natural backdrop. Once you’ve said ‘I do” it will be time to have your reception. Before you begin think about these few little ways to save – fake the cake. When you have a destination wedding, you probably have a smaller guest list and will need less cake, this however does not mean that you have to have a smaller looking cake. Have a display cake made with the top layer made just for the cutting ceremony. You can then have the biggest cake of your dreams for your pictures and not a lot of cake leftover. Your guests can then enjoy a sheet cake that was made just for them. On your table use seashells, sand, or fruit to decorate. You can save a lot on flowers, not to mention that some destinations will not let you take your flowers home with you. Try a local liquor to toast with, you may see a savings compared with champagne. And when planning you menu ask for substitutes because your vendor may have a less expense alternative. Finally one last way to save money (something I did) was make a playlist and use your Ipod to play music at your reception. I had my brother play DJ and we saved a lot!

I hope that these few tips were helpful. There are truly an unlimited amount of ways to save when planning a destination wedding. Just remember to stick to your budget and remember your guests!!!!

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Building a Risk Intelligent Company Culture

A company culture is a shared system of values and practices that become blended with other norms and beliefs that send influential strategic messages to employees and stakeholders about a company’s attitudes and behaviors, by defining what’s important. It (a company culture) will emerge as management teams, boards, and employees come to recognize the beneficial (economic, competitive advantage) outcomes that can accrue as they engage and solve problems through a ‘company culture’ platform. (Adapted by Michael D. Moberly from the work of Dr. Edgar Shein)

A well oriented and nurtured company culture is an effective tool for identifying and distinguishing the various types of intangible assets that exist in a company and the risks

A company’s (strategic) growth plans rely not just on the ability to scale up numbers, but on maintaining things like quality, responsiveness, and product-service quality. If growth occurs by acquisition or if non-core opportunities are to be spun off, then all intangible asset areas require special attention-consideration by management teams, boards, and employees.

A first, and very important step toward developing a ‘risk intelligent company culture’ is recognizing that risk is not solely an external phenomena, i.e., all risk emanates from outside the company.

A second, and equally important step in developing a risk intelligent company culture comes from recognizing that company value can be favorably affected by integrating – merging risk management and human resource management. The rationale for doing this lies in the fact that a significant percentage of (company) risk actually evolves from – is inherently embedded in employee behavior and actions, which includes the management team and board as well.

According to Deloitte’s, The People Side Of Risk Intelligence: Aligning Talent And Risk Management, risk touches virtually every aspect of employee (HR) management, and employees touch virtually every aspect of risk management. Is there no better reason to develop a risk intelligent company culture?

Effective risk management (and a risk intelligent company) Deloitte suggests, executes at the point at which there’s a convergence of the following:

1. Risk Governance – how a company treats risk and assumes responsibility for risk oversight and strategic decision making…

2. Risk Infrastructure Management – how a company assumes responsibility for and understands how to design, implement, oversee, and sustain a risk management program…

3. Risk Ownership – employees knowing what their risk responsibilities are, i.e., they assume (some) responsibility (ownership) for identifying, measuring, monitoring, and reporting risk…

In light of the economic fact that U.S. businesses lose an estimated 7% of their annual revenue to various forms of occupational fraud, a risk intelligent workforce (and, company culture) can be a very valuable (intangible) asset for a company, because one does not have to look far to see the adverse strategic consequences – affects on companies when they rely primarily on ‘unwritten rules’ for how things get done and how, or if, risk is managed.

In a risk intelligent company (culture), management teams and boards assume an obligation to understand what those ‘unwritten company rules’ are and how they’re being interpreted-executed by employees. A good starting point is (a.) to critically assess a company’s ‘unwritten rules’ by getting answers to the following questions, and (b.) recognizing the questions’ relevance insofar as how they may serve to influence and perpetuate a company environment of unmanaged risk taking:

1. What (employee) behaviors are actually being rewarded?

2. Are company (employee) incentives (properly, effectively) aligned with the company’s risk management priorities?

3. Do all employees, including the management team and board, understand the companies risk management priorities, objectives, and the strategic reasons-rationales behind them?

Ultimately, becoming more intelligent (and objective) about company risk is an important and necessary prelude to creating a risk intelligent company culture wherein management teams and boards assume a responsibility for elevating and cultivating a company-wide awareness of risk that fosters risk intelligent behaviors at all levels. It begins by:

1. Adopting a common definition of risk in accordance with national standards and best practices.

2. Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and authority (for managing risk) with appropriate levels of transparency.

Lastly, it’s important to recognize, insofar as developing a ‘risk intelligent company culture’ that (a.) a change in (company) culture generally follows a (employee) behavior change, and (b.) culture and behavior changes are less a product of formal risk policies, controls, and pronouncements, than they are the result of effective incentives and rewards.