How To Write Better Content: 3 Tips Content Marketers Can Learn From Journalists

journalism_jobsProducing consistently good, readable content can often be overwhelming, especially if you don’t have any writing experience.

One way to ensure your writing is up scratch is to look to the experts: journalists. Every day, journalists must write interesting, enticing and engaging content. It’s their job to produce stories that will help sell their publication.

There is a lot that content marketers can learn from journalists in order to improve their writing skills. Here are three tips to take on board:

The inverted pyramid style

Early in their careers, journalists are taught that readers will only read the first three paragraphs of a news article before they get bored or distracted. As such, journalists learn to position the most important elements of a story at the beginning of the article, with the least important elements at the end. This is called the inverted pyramid style of writing and it’s a good habit for content marketers to pick up.

Snappy headlines

Newspapers and magazines regularly publish attention-grabbing headlines to attract more readers. Apart from the front cover image, the front cover headline is the only guaranteed way to stop a reader in their tracks.

Content marketing is no different. When faced with a sea of search results, a reader will always click on the article with a catch headline first.

Here are a few tips for writing a good headline.

  • Use verbs – an ‘active’ headline is far more interesting and compelling;
  • Use interesting adjectives;
  • Use numbers (i.e. Five Tips for Writing a Great Headline);
  • Use trigger words like ‘How’ or ‘Why’ (i.e. How To Write a Great Headline In Five Easy Steps)

Tell the truth

One of the key tenets of journalism is to write the truth and present the facts in a clear and unbiased fashion. It’s a great lesson for content marketers to take heed of. Unlike advertising, content marketing is about developing a relationship with your readers. Much of that relationship will be built on trust and honesty. So be up front with your readers and they will reward you with their loyalty and dollars.

AirAsia X Now Connects Gold Coast to Auckland

Inaugural Flight Sale Gold Coast to New Zealand from AUD$129*

Gold Coast, Australia. 23 March 2016 – AirAsia X has commenced its daily flight service between the Gold Coast and Auckland, New Zealand, this morning with the arrival of flight D7206 from Kuala Lumpur into Gold Coast Airport, which then departed for Auckland.

The inaugural flight to Auckland had a healthy load factor of 95 per cent. Departing passengers were greeted and presented with gifts by Surf Life Saving volunteers in the terminal.

To celebrate this new route AirAsia X has commenced an online sale that will run until 3 April 2016 or until sold out. Guests can find incredible low fares available for a limited time only, starting as low as AUD$129* one-way to Auckland. Bookings can be made at www.airasia.com.

The travel period for the promotional seats is from 25 March 2016 to 22 May 2017.

Auckland
AirAsia X flight D7206 departs Gold Coast for Auckland, New Zealand.

AirAsia X’s popular Premium flatbed seats are also on sale from AUD$349* one-way.

AirAsia X’s daily flights between Gold Coast and Auckland depart Gold Coast at 9.05am each day, arriving in Auckland at 3.30pm local time.

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said, “This service provides a compelling alternative for Gold Coasters looking to travel to New Zealand and will also augment the inbound tourism opportunities for the Gold Coast.

“We’re very pleased with the number of our Asian guests travelling via the Gold Coast to New Zealand. Both the Gold Coast and New Zealand are world class destinations and much in demand from our guests across ASEAN.”

Auckland

Gold Coast Airport Chief Operating Officer, Marion Charlton, says, “AirAsia X has been a valued airline partner at Gold Coast Airport since commencing direct services to Kuala Lumpur in 2007.

“We look forward to working with AirAsia X to ensure the long-term success of this new Auckland service.”

An Airbus A330-300 aircraft operates the route with a seating capacity of 377. The configuration will be AirAsia X’s standard configuration of 365 economy seats and 12 Premium flatbed seats.

AirAsia X was named the World’s Best Low Cost Airline Premium Seat and the World’s Best Low Cost Airline Premium Cabin titles at the 2015 Skytrax World Airline Awards. The AirAsia Group also received its seventh consecutive year title as the World’s Best and Asia’s Best Low Cost Airline at the awards.

For bookings or further information visit www.airasia.com  Flights and fares are subject to availability.

*Flights and fares are subject to availability. Booking period 23 March 2016 – 3 April 2016, or until sold out. Travel period 25 March 2016 – 22 May 2017. Seats are limited and not available on all flights/days or at peak periods. Fares are for one-way travel, hand luggage only and fully inclusive of all taxes and charges. Fees apply for checked baggage. Business Class fares come with complimentary services as advertised on airasia.com. Lowest fares available online at airasia.com. No processing fees are applicable for online bookings made with PayPal. Next best possible fare available via phone with additional $25 service fee. All amounts are in Australian dollars unless stated otherwise. See airasia.com for full details and Conditions of Carriage.

Richard Pratley

simPRO Appoints NZ Executive To Drive Growth

Richard Pratley
Richard Pratley

Global software group simPRO Software has launched a major growth drive in New Zealand as it looks to cement its position as the country’s most popular job management software for the trade services industry.

The company has appointed experienced electrical industry executive Richard Pratley as New Zealand General Manager with responsibility for overseeing a major expansion of the company’s presence in the local market.

Prior to joining simPRO, Mr Pratley was General Manager of Trade Business at Gerard Lighting in Auckland. Before joining Gerard he spent nearly 12 years in different positions at Schneider Electric, including as General Manager of the company’s Buildings Business division.

As part of his role with Schneider, Mr Pratley was responsible for implementing the simPRO Software platform across the NZ service business with more than 20 users.

simPRO Software provides leading-edge job management software for the trade services industry. The cloud-based system helps users to refine processes, improve profitability, and increase productivity.

The software is of most use to operators in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC and security industries and is currently used by a number of established brands in New Zealand, including Laser Group and Aquaheat.

Clients range from small contracting operations through to corporate enterprise with thousands of staff. The simPRO business management platform has more than 2,500 clients and 80,000 users around the world.

The company was founded in Brisbane, Australia, and now also has offices in Boulder, Colorado (United States); Auckland, New Zealand; and St Ive’s, England.

As part of the company’s aggressive growth campaign in New Zealand it plans to rapidly grow its local support and sales teams with staff expected to double over the next six months.

Mr Pratley said the decision to join simPRO was partly based on his experience of the product while working at Schneider.

“It is a great platform and the benefits we were able to generate at Schneider were far more than we expected,” he said.

“With a good understanding of the product and the needs of the market I am confident we can help more customers transform their businesses with simPRO and increase our market penetration.”

“With the investment of time and resources we expect to be able to grow the customer base fairly quickly with the goal of having 400 subscribers within the next 12 months.”

simPRO Software CEO Brad Couper said the appointment of Mr Pratley and the planned expansion of staff provided the company with the capacity to continue growing its subscriber base in New Zealand.

“We will be looking to significantly expand our foothold in New Zealand and the US over the next couple of years and our investment in new offices and new people is testament to the confidence we have in the the local market,” he said.

simPRO Software develops business management cloud solutions for the trade services industry. It’s products are designed to optimise business workflow to refine process, improve productivity and increase profitability.

simPRO also offers a mobility solution for the trade and service industries based around the Connect mobile app which gives field staff complete control over the administration of individual jobs including the ability to process payments on-site using a customer’s credit card. The simPRO mobility suite also includes eForms, which digitises a company’s existing paper based forms.

Established in 2002, simPRO Software is a Brisbane based software company which is the global leader in job management software for the services and contracting sector. The company’s clients range from small contracting businesses to mid-sized businesses through to large enterprises with thousands of staff.

For more information visit http://www.simprogroup.com

smartphone-purchase

simPRO Software Helps Ease Cash Crunch For Small Business

smartphone-purchaseAs small businesses continue to struggle with their cashflow, Australian technology company simPRO Software has introduced a major enhancement to its cloud-based job management software that will make it easier than ever for trade services business to get paid for their work in a timely manner.

The new capability, which is offered in partnership with payment solutions firm IntegraPay, provides clients with three easy payment options that will make collecting payments quicker and more efficient.

In a major technological breakthrough, clients payments can now be processed in the field (using the simPRO Connect mobile app) as soon as a job is completed.

Alternatively customers can now also pay online directly from their invoice with just a click or the supplier can take payment details over the phone and enter them directly in the simPRO system.

The feature is available across simPRO’s suite of products and is designed to make it easier for users to get payment by streamlining and integrating the invoicing and collections processes.

simPRO CEO Brad Couper said the payment processing enhancements came at a time when many businesses were under severe financial pressure because of unpaid invoices.

“Managing cashflow is one of our clients’ biggest challenges. Small businesses don’t have the option to defer their key payments like bank debt and wages but there is often a long delay before customers get around to paying their bills,” Mr Couper said.

“simPRO Payments can help to solve that problem by making it easier for clients to pay invoices on the spot so the business gets the money fast.”

simPRO Payments will be available to all simPRO users in Australia, New Zealand, United States and the United Kingdom.

According to a recent survey by accounting software provider Intuit, Australian small businesses are owed $26 billion at any one time because of unpaid invoices while the average SME was owed $13,200 and had to spend 12 days per year chasing unpaid invoices.

Even worse, 27 per cent of small businesses that didn’t insist on upfront payments had been forced to take loans or use credit to pay suppliers and wages.

Users of simPRO’s enterprise & service job management software will get immediate access to quick payments and in future the system will be further enhanced to support direct debits, Bpay and recurring payments such as repeat bills, memberships, Software-as-a-Service, and subscriptions.

Using the system, clients can also implement schemes like loyalty rewards for early payment.

The system’s online dashboard makes managing direct debit payment easy. Businesses can access their personal details, their payment information, add new customers or amend payments 24×7.

All information displayed is live and all changes are applied instantly.

Established in 2002 simPRO Software is a Brisbane based software company which is the global leader in job management software for the services and contracting sector. The company’s clients range from small contracting businesses to mid-sized businesses through to large enterprises with thousands of staff.

For more information visit http://www.simprogroup.com

CloudOps-boxing-gloves

Content Vs. Advertising: The Great Debate

CloudOps-boxing-gloves

When you develop a marketing and communications plan for your business, you’re likely to come across a common conundrum.

Do you focus on advertising or content marketing?

Although content marketing and advertising are both trying to sell a product, they take two very different paths to get to the same goal.

Advertising

With advertising, a company will promote a product’s company and services through traditional forms of advertising on the television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, brochures, trade fairs and so on.

The aim is to educate or excite a consumer about the product that is being sold and then convince them to visit the company’s website.

Advertising is essentially a one-way dialogue between the company and the consumer. The consumer will listen and then decide whether they will buy.

Content Marketing

Content marketing, on the other hand, is subtler than advertising.

The aim is to convert a customer that has already visited the company website.

Content marketing isn’t about slapping the consumer over the head with stories about how amazing your product is. Rather, it’s about selling the ‘idea’ of a product.

It’s about creating and publishing consistent, relevant, valuable, interesting and engaging content to attract your key demographic.

For instance, if you manufacture running shoes, the content you publish might include topics like ‘How to Improve Your Running Style’, ‘The 10 Best Tracks For Your Running Playlist’ or ‘The Latest Fashion Trends for Runners’.

Content marketing may be more labour intensive, but if you do it right, your key target audience will keep coming back to your website again and again. The more they love your brand, the more likely that devotion will convert to sales.