Mash. - Blog

Avoid This Toxic Mistake If You Are Writing For The Masses

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 15:47:00 +0000

Are you one of those writers who try their best to decorate their content with difficult and intelligent sounding words in hopes of impressing their readers?

If you are writing for a mass audience, especially if you are a journalist, or writing for an online audience, this might be the worst mistake you could be making.

According to a study conducted by Daniel M. Oppenheimer, writers who use simpler words actually come across as being smarter than the ones who don’t.

But, Why?

The major reasons why you should be avoiding this toxic habit if you want to be an excellent web content writer relate directly to your audience. Write your content in a way that it facilitates the people it is written for. Let us look at a couple of important reasons why you should write simple content:

Everyone Needs To Understand

The difference between average writers and great writers is great writers do not need fancy words to get their message across. They have the ability to express themselves in a simple and clear fashion, and engage their audience at the same time. If what you write is not being understood by your audience quickly and clearly, it needs work.

When you write for the Web, especially for the news and blogs, keep in mind that the audience that has access to your content is incredibly diverse, and not everyone shares the same level of vocabulary and comprehension skills. This is why it is important that your content is easy to read and understand.

They Don’t Have The Time

Most people ‘reading’ online content are not reading every single word thoroughly; they are just skimming through it to get the gist of it, and grasp the points that sound important to them.

Make sure that your content does not require people to spend a lot of their precious time trying to understand what you are trying to say, because they won’t.

Reaching out to a mass audience is very different from reaching out to a specific niche, and this should reflect in your writing style if you want to get the maximum results out of your published content. Use simpler words, short sentences and use catchy and easy headlines. The best writers are those who are able to express even the most complex ideas in simple ways.

Why You Are Probably The Reason Your Business Is Failing

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 15:44:00 +0000

Starting your own business seems easy; you have an idea, you have the resources. Doesn’t seem that difficult does it? Running a successful business, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. It is not at all surprising that, whereas a lot of startups find a place for themselves out there, most don’t last longer than a few years, and eventually find themselves spiraling downwards until they hit a wall.

Many factors can be responsible for the failure of your business, and a lot of them involve internal and external factors; problems in the overall system such as lack of organization and discipline, lack of planning, financial constraints, and even your own employees.

Before looking for reasons in your environment, however, it is useful to practice a bit of healthy introspection, and reflect on a few personal factors, because like it or not, your own dear self could be the key reason that your business is not flourishing as well as you would want it to.

Your Heart Isn’t In It

Ask yourself this: Why did you start this business in the first place?

Remember! Starting a business for all the wrong reasons, such as chasing money, authority or fame, is going to get you nowhere. Your business is your baby, so be ready to treat it like one. You need to love it with all your heart, and be as dedicated to it as possible, because you can only bring it to excellence when you give it your full potential, and that is, in turn, only possible when you put your heart and soul into it.

Your Ego Is More Important Than Change

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once famously said, “The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change – “.

Learn to accept the fact that businesses do not function in isolation. The world is constantly changing, and you and your organization need to keep up if you want to avoid getting left behind. Sticking with rigid methods, not learning from your own mistakes, and refusing to adapt to a changing environment will all lead your business to disaster. A successful entrepreneur knows that it is okay if something does not work out if done a certain way. You cannot expect different results by doing the same things.

Micro Management

If you constantly monitor and try to control every move of your employees, chances are that you are a terrible manager.

This is exactly another (rather annoying) habit practiced by entrepreneurs/managers who are resistant to change. They don’t let their employees explore different methods, and end up restricting creativity and innovation, which leads to mediocre and monotonous results, and becomes an obstacle in the path of success.

You Think You Know It All

Know what you do know, as well as what you don’t.

Many entrepreneurs fail at acknowledging that they do not, and cannot, know everything. Lack of proper knowledge, research and observation can lead to a blind business, stumbling in the dark, and very likely to fall. In addition to research, learn from others, look for inspiration, and know your business inside-out.

Overdoing It

Never, ever let your business negatively affect your mental and physical health!

Work hard, but learn to draw the line between doing and overdoing. Give it your full potential, but if you let your physical or mental health suffer in the process, how do you expect to handle your business with the same enthusiasm and strength that is needed to keep it alive and successful? Exercise, eat healthy, and take well-deserved breaks, because if you don’t, you will only end up exhausting yourself and your employees.

Failure To Synergize

Yes, 1+1 CAN equal to 4, 5 or even 100.

No matter how brilliant you are, and how much you are able to handle alone, failure to value the differences among each other will only lead to limitations. Learn to get past these limits; incorporate skills, talents and various inputs from other people, departments etc. and discover results that you couldn’t possibly have achieved by working in isolation. Failure to synergize will only slow down your organization’s success.

You Need To Check Your Work Ethics

Do it right, or don’t do it at all.

There is a reason that business ethics exist. If you don’t value commitment, merit and the difference between the right and the wrong yourself, you will only create problems for yourself and your business by losing the trust of your employees and consumers, and failing to develop and maintain a good reputation. Remember, business ethics start from the top, so in order to run an ethical business, you need to have an ethical mindset yourself.

They Don’t Like You

True leadership goes hand in hand with a likeable personality.

If your employees aren’t happy with you, chances are that you will never be able to bring out the best in them. No one likes a mean boss, and having a friendly, motivated and encouraging personality keeps your employees happy with working for you, and boosts team morale. Make sure they want to stay, not run away at the first opportunity they get.

Failure To Solve Your Own Issues

Don’t wait for others to solve your personal problems; they won’t.

Trust me, your personal issues are your own problems, and if you fail to solve them, you will ultimately let them affect your business. Problems like relationship trouble, anger management, or other such personal issues are your own responsibility, and it is your job to solve them as quickly as possible so that they don’t interfere in your professional life.

Being Hasty

Take one step at a time. You cannot do everything all at once.

The worst thing a business can possibly do is rush into making decisions that it cannot handle at that point. Making unplanned, hasty decisions leads to disastrous consequences at times, and a good entrepreneur is always patient, and understands the fact that a business does not become successful overnight.

In what other ways do you think an Entrepreneur can let his own self become a barrier in the way of his business? Let us know!

Why ‘Being Good’ Can Be Good For Your Food Business

Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:57:00 +0000

Restaurants/Bakeries/Eateries: Get your charitable shoes on!

We all know that the act of giving and creating a positive difference in the world around us reaps priceless economical, psychological, emotional and spiritual rewards. When you give back to your community and help others in need, you end up feeling great about yourself, right? Let me tell you, however, that there are many other benefits that you can enjoy by “being good”, especially when you are a business.

Food businesses, such as restaurants, cafes and bakeries, have a great opportunity to take part in this benevolent practice. Activities such as organizing food events at schools, hospitals and poverty-stricken areas, donating a certain percentage of your sales to a good cause, donating or distributing surplus food among the underprivileged and the needy, as well as sponsoring or supporting other charity events are just a few ways that these businesses can give back to their community.

A good business knows that any decision that it takes will have a certain impact, or consequence; be it financial, functional or even image-related, which is why it is important to know the why, who, what and how of your contributions, as well as the impacts that they will have on your business.

Contributing towards creating a better community not only provides a boost for your company’s public image, it also benefits your organization’s internal and external affairs by affecting both your employees and customers. Here are a few reasons why being socially responsible can turn out to be in favor of your business:

Reveal Your Love & Care

Your actions matter. When you actually work towards giving back to your community, it shows that your business cares for more than just making profits, which can do wonders for your reputation.

Bring Your Community Together

Everyone supports public-spirited events and activities, and when you purposefully involve volunteers and the general public in your initiatives, it creates a sense of community within the people and the organization and brings them closer together when they join each other on the same page, out there to achieve similar goals. This, in turn, could make your organization the place where people involved in such activities could get together.

Find New Customers

Social and charity work not only gains you a good reputation among your existing customers, but also motivates people who have never visited you before to check you out. More people are interested in businesses who are concerned with something other than just making money than you know.

Boost Employee Morale

Getting your staff and employees involved in contributing towards a good cause can help boost team spirit, motivation and enthusiasm. It also creates in them a sense of being good and valued which, in turn, increases self-esteem and helps gain moral satisfaction.

Positive Publicity

A food business contributing towards the betterment of the community is likely to gain free-of-cost media attention, especially when it involves the public in its activities. This can be good for your business because it helps paint a positive picture of you to the masses out there, and showing the community that you care enhances your image.

Engage Your Clients

In addition to creating new customers, getting your existing customers and clients to engage in social and community-level activities allows them to connect with your business on matters close to their hearts, and eventually, aids brand and customer loyalty.

Aside from all the reasons listed above and more, the simplest and biggest reason to be good and do good is the difference you end up making in someone’s life, and eventually, in the whole community. As a business owner, you have the power to make the world a better place, not just by selling good products and services, but also by contributing your time and money towards good causes and standing up against the problems of the society. Businesses work in collaboration with their communities, and a healthy community means a healthy business.