Six Tips to Mastering Instructions
As Google, businesses and consumers continue to stress the importance of content marketing and providing quality, useful information to readers, clients need text that is not only written well but also offers helpful material, fulfilling all their requirements. It's important that Textbroker reflects these priorities, which is why we will be incorporating instruction compliance as a factor in star ratings. While this change may seem intimidating at first, a little practice makes perfect. Below are tips to help you excel at following client instructions.
As Google, businesses and consumers continue to stress the importance of content marketing and providing quality, useful information to readers, clients need text that is not only written well but also offers helpful material, fulfilling all their requirements. It's important that Textbroker reflects these priorities, which is why we will be incorporating instruction compliance as a factor in star ratings. While this change may seem intimidating at first, a little practice makes perfect. Below are tips to help you excel at following client instructions.
Overview Instructions
When reviewing the order instructions, first glance over all the material provided so that you have a general understanding of what information must be included in the article and how it should be presented.
Create Article Layout
Next, outline your order so that all formatting requirements are taken into account. For example, if the client requested a minimum of four subheadings with specific heading tags, write the word "subheading" four times, with space to add text below each, and code it with the proper HTML. You can go back and change the name of the subheadings once you have more details on the subject material. This ensures that the presentation of the order will be correct.
Determine Subject Specifications
Information included in the order will vary depending on who the audience is. For example, if it's an article for experienced golfers, basic golf jargon will not need to be explained. Or if the product's target audience is stay-at-home parents, mentioning how the product is useful in the workplace will not be relevant.
Determine Style and Tone
As you begin to write, be mindful of any specifications in the instructions about tone, style and point of view. If the text should be informal and in second-person narrative, you can conversationally address the reader directly and avoid formal language and tone.
Treat Instructions As a Checklist
Once you have completed the assignment, go back through the list of requirements to make sure no points were missed. Components that can be easily overlooked to watch out for are incorporating keywords a specific amount of times, producing a call to action and including a conclusion paragraph.
Communicate
Ask questions! If the client didn't include information that you would find helpful or you feel is pertinent, message the client and politely ask for a more detailed description. Likewise, if some aspect seems confusing or unclear, seek out clarification.
Adding construction compliance as a component in ratings ensures that readers and clients will be obtaining content that is beneficial. And by following instructions, you may have less revision requests, questions concerning the order's content and even be able to boost your ratings.
Ø 3.71 (7 vote)
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Comments
481109 28. February 2015 - 0:52
I'm drowning in comma usage, but it's a pleasant, useful death. Losing semicolons was difficult. I'd cut my grammatical teeth on them, yet moving on speeds the healing. Life requires compromise, and when I find I've compromised too much, it's time for a rewrite. Ugly, awkward duckilings are for the most part exactly what they seem: They waiver, wobble, weave and wander until finally collapsing into a confused, exhausted heap. When I find myself bewildered, it's easy enough to imagine how the reader might feel. Other than catching spelling mistakes and missing words in a sentence, proofreading and self-editing don't do much good without a competent grasp of the rules. Knowing the rules has little meaning without understanding the underlying structural framework needed in applying them.
Personally, I have no desire to to aquire a doctorate in grammer, but taking a few minutes each day, making some hand-written notes, taking advantage of myriad quizzes and tests can only serve to sharpen my skills, increase speed amd make me a better writer. If there's a shortcut, I haven't found it. Starting at four stars with TB was gratifying, but it was only a starting point. I have a great deal to learn while earning that extra star and a little scratch along the way.
Here's a hint for those of you with five star ambitions: Print out the proofreading test. Carefully examine it, taking your time. Check for spelling errors, obvious grammer mistakes, and eliminate those choices. Concentrate on the remaining options. Do some research about those choices and weigh the differences however small or seemingly insignificant. Again, take notes, including examples for reference materials, which will come in handy later. The time you spend won't be wasted. You're investing in yourself, and that's money well spent.
176169 22. April 2015 - 0:17
Yeah. I got one revision request from a team order, and I'm already being threatened with having my star rating lowered. I think that's kind of pushy (when I didn't even get the chance to rewrite the order yet).
478661 26. April 2015 - 0:16
Thank you for the good advice. Will be on the lookout for filler.
401733 17. September 2015 - 1:44
I would like to point out that this whole rating system is planned around the abilities of the writer to do very good work in grammar, spelling, proofreading, and following directions. You have Textbroker U that is designed to make a 3 level writer into a 5 level writer. You have regular evaluations to give tips to writers in how to improve their skills and perhaps get better evaluations in the future.
Here is the problem. While you give evaluations every month, there are times when a writer has to wait as long as three months. This is not only unfair to writers, it is unacceptable. I wonder how many businesses that deal with a writing staff will allow them to go three months straight without an evaluation. The more months that go by, the more and more the same uncaught mistakes continue when they could have been caught sooner. I wonder if that is because you do not have evaluators to go around. I checked your list of available jobs and I do not see anything for article evaluator. If you can pay pennies per word and get writers to write article for you, then you can afford to pay evaluators. Are the article evaluators getting paid? If any of you reading this is an aticle evaluator for TextBroker, please respond. If anyone out there is in favor of people making some extra money as article evaluators please let me know. I am thinking of writing the CEO Phillip R Thune and suggest this to him.
642173 7. June 2016 - 1:04
I am new, and was a 3. After a dozen articles, I got dropped to a 2. The last few I did were very short, possibly that is a reason. But, there are almost no orders for 2 stars, 3 was hard enough. And the order I just took the client have AWFUL instructions, completely unclear and I may have to forfeit writing it because I'm so unsure of what to write.