Briefs to Freelancers, Writers
Here are the two briefs I discussed with you over phone, Mr Motwani.
How to Avoid Becoming Victim of Tax Scams
– This 350-400 words article advises readers on identifying corrupt tax schemes and how to avoid them
Hiding income in undisclosed offshore accounts? The stakes are going up on Aug. 31
– This article explores why are the stakes going up for tax evaders using offshore accounts and advises them on what to do.
Both the articles will need interesting title, image, caption, sub-heads, the works.
The deadline for all these articles is Monday morning. In the meantime, we will create one more ID for you on TJ.
Here are six more articles, Mr Agarwal.
While researching and writing, kindly keep in mind that these articles are targeted at only two groups of people – which are TJ’s target audiences:
- Lay people from U.S. looking for advice, information, ideas, etc., on managing money matters
- Small business owners and managers from U.S.
1. Record-Keeping for Small Businesses
– This 350-400 words article will provide essential knowledge about record-keeping for small businesses in a ‘capsule’ article
– You need to research on at least 4-5 good sources.
2. Deductible Business Expenses
– This 350-400 words article will summarise the major tax-deductible business expenses (minor deductible expenses can be listed in a separate box)
- You need to research on at least 4-5 good sources.
– Kindly link out to irs.gov or sba.gov for essential forms.
3. Avoid These Social Media Mistakes
– Written from the perspective of small business managers; what mistakes can they make in their social media efforts and how to avoid them
– 5-7 major mistakes can be explored; 350-400 words should suffice
4. Buying a Second-Hand Car
– Meant for lay people in U.S.
– Goes in our Savings section
All articles will need interesting title, image, caption, sub-heads, the works.
The deadline for all these articles is Monday evening, as discussed on phone. In the meantime, can you create another ID on TJ and message that to me? We don’t want all those articles published with the same byline on the same day.
Dear Mr Agarwal,
As discussed on phone, here are three more articles.
1. Innocent Spouse Tax Relief
- IRS recently modified the provisions of Innocent Spouse Tax Relief.
- What do the changes mean for the taxpayers; how will these benefit them. We can also explore loopholes in the provisions.
2. Businesses, Watch Out for These Expiries!
For businesses, certain tax benefits will expire at the end of this year. This 350-400 words article should explore such benefits.
3. Tax Write-offs for Small businesses
The article should explore the plethora of tax write-offs available to small businesses.
Kindly use expert quotes and relevant facts and figures to push your ideas credibly. Also try to find fitting examples to substantiate your claims in the articles.
I’d appreciate your efforts if, from your research on 3-4 good sources, you choose the most enlightening information bits, the most informative nuggets. You can discard the less informative stuff, as we are trying to provide the maximum value to the readers in a ‘tablet article’, so to speak.
All three articles will need interesting titles, images, captions, sub-heads, the works.
Three more articles, Mr Agarwal, deadlined May 30, 10 a.m.
The theme is “hazards of online transactions”, and we can make three separate articles out of it.
What’s wrong with online banking (TJ) (specifically for transactions using online banking)
How is your financial privacy at risk while banking online? You can talk of hacking of customers’ banking information online and misuse by hackers and those having access to this information.
How to cover your tracks or prevent misuse of your financial information while banking online?
What’s wrong with online payment service providers like PayPal, Neteller, EntroPay, etc. (TJ)
What can go wrong? How bad can it get? How can you save your financial privacy vis-à-vis these services?
What’s wrong with online shopping (TJ)
A low-down on financial risks involved in shopping through online shopping sites, like eBay, or using credit cards and debit cards on sundry websites.
Kindly use expert quotes and relevant facts and figures to push your ideas credibly. Also try to find fitting examples to substantiate your claims in the articles.
From your research on 3-4 good sources, choose the most enlightening information bits, the most informative nuggets. You can discard the less informative stuff, as we are trying to provide the maximum value to the readers in a ‘tablet article’, so to speak.
All three articles will need interesting titles, captions, sub-heads, the works. Kindly keep the feedback given earlier in mind while researching and writing, so that we don’t come across the same mistakes.
Two more articles, Mr Motwani:
What’s Wrong with Multitasking?
- From your research on 3-4 good sources, kindly choose the most enlightening information bits, the most informative nuggets, if you will, the kind that spark an epiphany in the reader. You can discard the less informative stuff, as we are trying to provide the maximum value to the readers in a ‘tablet article’, so to speak.
Technology and Leaders: How is technology helping business leaders lead better?
- If you cannot find enough material on this angle, kindly discard the topic and begin on another.
The deadline for both the articles is 10 a.m. this Saturday. You can also submit an article(s) tomorrow or soon as it’s ready.
Dear Mr Motwani,
Two more article suggestions for you:
1. IMF post Dominique Debacle
- Ramifications of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s downfall – for IMF, for industries, for stock market, and (if possible) for small businesses (TJ mostly caters to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and lay U.S. people).
- Kindly see on which of the above four you find more material, and shape your story accordingly.
2. Selling your business? Here’s what to do (and what not to)
It has to be a condensed guide for a U.S. entrepreneur trying to sell his business.
Do think of fitting boxes for both the articles.
Word limit for both the articles, deadlined at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 19, is 500-700 words.
Dear Mr Agarwal,
Here are two more articles:
Framing policy on sexual harassment at workplace for small businesses
What are the dynamics involved? How to frame the policy? What are the resources available for small businesses in U.S. to make it happen?
Kindly link out to 1-2 govt. resources for policy making and enforcement
– One tutorial, Writing Analytical Articles, High-Value Features for CW Portals, has information on linking out to resources
Kindly make use of 2-3 recent examples.
While you are at it, you can churn out another article on the topic, with a different focus:
Preventing sexual harassment at workplace for small businesses
Kindly link out to 1-2 govt. or private (good ones) sources providing further, deeper information to our readers.
I leave the box ideation for the articles to you.
Word limit for both the articles, deadlined at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17, is 500-700 words.
Kindly keep my suggestions on title, blurb, title case in sub-heads, etc., sent in the last email, in mind while writing and submitting these two articles.
You need to submit both the articles on TJ. You can talk to Rakhi Kaptiyal about your ID on TJ, which is Steve Anderson, far as I remember.
Hi Mr Motwani,
Here are the two articles I talked of on Yahoo Messenger:
For TJ
Gadgets for Office Use
What are the pitfalls of letting employees use gadgets like Blackberry, Android, iPad, etc., for office purposes? In the second part, we can talk about damage control or ways to check misuse by employees.
In the ‘box’, we can carry a run-down of 3-4 such gadgets. Or if you can think of a better box and discuss that with me before setting on it, that should be fine too.
This source is carrying a good article on this (but we need you to research on at least four such sources): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704641604576255223445021138.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_Below_Video
For TJ
Internet, Social Media, and Your Privacy
How is your privacy at risk on the internet? How to cover your tracks or prevent misuse of your sensitive information.
We are carrying this article in the wake of the following recent news (so kindly use this news as pivot): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1385863/Internet-security-company-Symantec-warns-massive-Facebook-data-leak.html?ITO=1490
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2070036/facebook-applications-leak-thousands-spare-keys
We can talk of only personal information in this article. (On TJ, we can do a similar article later on where you will talk of financial angle: hacking of financial information and misuse by hackers and those having access to this information.)
Kindly remember you will write for U.S. audience. Also, make use of examples and expert opinions to push your ideas.
Submit the first article on TJ and the second on Brisvaani as “Feature Article”.
Our stipulations on quotes and attribution stand in this article too—and in all your forthcoming articles.
The word limit for both the articles stays the same: 500-700 words. As discussed over Messenger, the deadline is longer this time around: Saturday 10 p.m.
Hi Mr Motwani,
Here’s your second article of the day:
Quake, Flood, Tornado, Hurricane: Getting Wise Before they Strike
How can they financially destroy you. Are you financially prepared? How to prepare yourself.
Kindly remember you will write for U.S. audience and submit on TJ as “Feature Article”.
Our stipulations on quotes and attribution stand in this article too—and in all your forthcoming articles.
The word limit and deadline stay the same: 500-700 words, 10 a.m. the day after.
Dear Mr Agarwal,
Can you do a 500-600 words (including the ‘box’ or sidebar) article on how technology has facilitated conducting business in contemporary times? You can talk of Web applications, online sales and marketing, social media activities, CRM activities, Web conferencing, communication devices like Blackberry, etc.
For the box or side bar, a run-down (in list format) of the technological gadgets an entrepreneur can possibly use will be helpful.
Just make it roughly 300-400 words long, and make sure that the article does not contain copied material from the net. Also, make sure that whatever arguments you put forth in the feature are backed by proper research, expert views/quotes, authentic facts and figures.
Dear Mr Agarwal,
We need 400 words or more on the following topic (theme/focus is clear in the title itself):
Cloud Computing: Pros and Cons
(We can talk of cloud computing as a computational resource as well as for Web hosting)
Mr Agarwal, because I expect the best from a journalist of your caliber, I would appreciate if you could meet the following three requirements:
- Provide quotes from at least three sources.
- Provide attribution to sources of your information at least three times throughout the article.
- Final article has to be 400-600 words in length. We need condensed information rather than verbose prose.
You can submit it (in a Word file) to our email.
Any queries? Just revert without hesitation.
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