Are you thinking about sitting down at your computer and writing a book for the first time? It can be a nerve-racking experience!

It takes the average author anywhere from a few months to a few years to write a book, depending on how much research needs to be done for it. The editing process associated with writing a book can also take a lot of time to play out.

With this in mind, there are some tips for writing a book that you should follow before you get started. They’ll help you create a book that people will actually want to read cover to cover.

Many of the tips will also make writing a book so much more manageable for you. Here are 11 tips you should keep in mind at all times while piecing a book together from start to finish.

1. Take a Look at the Most Popular Book Genres

There are some book genres that are more popular than others. These days, people seem to be in love with genres like action and adventure, sci-fi, and self-help.

There is something to be said for picking one of the lesser-known genres if you want your book to stand out in the crowd. But generally speaking, you should try to aim your book at the genres with the largest audiences if you want to enjoy success.

Browse through the different book genres that are popular right now and choose the one that you think would work best for the book you have in mind.

2. Figure Out What You Want Your Book to Be About

What exactly is the book that you write going to be about? That’s a question that you’re going to have to answer—and answer well—when you first start kicking around the idea of writing a book.

You might have a very general idea of what you want your book to be about. But it’s important to nail down a crystal-clear idea before you sit down to write it.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Which characters will appear in the book?
• Where will the book take place?
• What time period will the book cover?
• What will be the main source of conflict in the book?
• How will the book end?

You can, of course, alter your answers to these questions slightly while writing the book. But you shouldn’t be making up answers as you go along. 

3. Make Sure Someone Else Hasn’t Already Used Your Book Idea

You might not think there’s any possible way that anyone has ever thought to write a 50,000-word book that doesn’t include a single word with the letter “e” in it.

But guess what? It exists!

There are upwards of one million books published per year. This means that authors have run the gamut over the years when it comes to generating new book ideas.

Before you put your pen to paper and start writing a book, it’s a good idea to make sure no one has written a similar book already. You might be surprised to find that someone has capitalized on your current idea in the past.

4. Outline Everything That’s Going to Happen in Your Book

As a writer, an outline is going to be your best friend. It’ll help guide the way while you’re writing a book and prevent you from finding yourself in a situation where you’re not sure where to take your book next.

As we mentioned earlier, you should ask yourself a bunch of questions with regards to your book while trying to decide what it’s going to be about. You should also take your answers and use them to formulate an outline for your book.

That outline will create a path forward for your book and keep you on track as you begin writing.

5. Create a Space to Write Your Book—and Commit to Writing Every Day!

This is easily one of the best tips for writing a book. When you’re writing one, it’s essential to create a space that you can use to do it.

It’s also essential to commit to writing your book every day. Even if you only write a few paragraphs, it’ll help you to build up some momentum over time.

There are very few writers who sit down and knock out the same number of words day after day. You should mentally prepare for the ebbs and flows that come along with writing prior to penning your first paragraph.

6. Consider Showing Some of Your Early Work on Your Book to Others

After you have one or two chapters of a book done, you might feel really good about it. Or you might worry about whether or not you’re writing a book that people will want to read.

Either way, it never hurts to get a second opinion from someone you trust. They may tell you that your book isn’t as good or bad as you think it is.

Some writers are wary about showing anyone their work until it’s been written, edited, and tweaked over time. But if you don’t mind showing off your writing in the early stages, you may want to ask someone to put a second set of eyes on the work you’ve been doing after you start your book.

7. Keep Writing Your Book, Even When It’s Difficult to Do It

There are going to be days when everything that you write comes out like crap. There are also going to be days when you find yourself sitting and staring out the window wishing you could be doing anything except writing.

On these days, there’s no shame in getting up and going outside for a little while to clear your mind. But you shouldn’t let one or two slow days stop your momentum.

Keep on writing, even when you find it incredibly difficult to do it. You’ll get back into a groove and find your way before long.

8. Hire Someone to Perform a Final Edit on Your Book

When you finish your book, you’re going to be ecstatic. You’ll feel like shipping it right off to the printer and starting to sell it on your website.

Before you do that, though, you should consider hiring a professional editor to step in and edit your book for you. They can help you make your book so much stronger than it is and turn it into a better finished product.

Hiring an editor will cost you some money. But it’ll be one of the best investments you make when writing your first book.

9. Come up With an Amazing Cover for Your Book

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” might be a good thing to keep in mind when it comes to meeting new people. But ironically, it doesn’t always apply to books themselves.

People are going to judge your book by its cover when you start selling it. It’s why it’s important to spend almost as much time on your book cover as your book.

Work with a graphic designer to come up with a great design for your book cover. It’ll intrigue people more and get them interested in your book when they finally get their hands on it.

10. Print Up Copies of Your Book and Make It Look Official

You’re going to be spending many long months, if not years, working on your book. So when people are able to pick it up, don’t you want it to look as professional as possible?

You can achieve this goal by working with a company like QINPrinting that specializes in book printing. They’ll make everything from the front and back covers of your book to the words on your book’s pages look great.

People will want to flip through the pages of your book and read them when they see how professional it looks.

11. Drum up Interest in Your Book by Marketing It the Right Way

You can write the most amazing book ever and print up as many professional copies of it as you want. But if you don’t market it effectively, those copies are likely going to sit on your bookshelf.

In this day and age, marketing a book has never been easier. You can utilize social media to build up a following for your book if you play your cards right.

You can also sell copies of your book right on your website and make it easy for people to purchase them. This will increase the chances of people buying and reading your book.

Use These Tips for Writing a Book People Will Love

It’s not easy to write a book that people will want to read. There are so many books released every year that many books—especially self-published ones—often get lost in the shuffle.

Don’t let these things stop you from writing a book anyway. As long as you put the tips for writing a book found here to good use, you can bring a book idea to life and make people fall in love with it.

Read our blog for more tips on designing a beautiful book.

Each year, there are approximately 340 million work-related accidents around the world. However, many victims of work-related accidents and injuries never get compensated as they should.

That’s why it’s important to understand what to do if you suffer a workers’ comp injury. By following the correct procedure, you can get the financial assistance you need while you’re injured.

Keep reading to learn more about what to do if you suffer and injury while on the job.

Visit a Doctor

The first thing you need to do following an on-the-job accident is visit a doctor. If your injury is severe, you may need to go directly to the emergency room to be treated.

Visiting a workers’ comp doctor is important not only to treat any injuries you may have received, but also because they can document exactly what injuries you have, including ones that may not be visible. This is important when you make your workers’ comp case because you want to be compensated for all the injuries you have suffered.

File an Accident Report

After you’ve sought medical care, you must file an accident report. This needs to be done as soon as possible because many states have limitations on how long you can wait to file a report.

Regardless of whether you have suffered an injury or not, an accident report should always be filed. This is necessary because you might not realize you suffered an injury until days or weeks later. If you never file an accident report, it’ll be nearly impossible for you to win a workers’ comp case over an injury that wasn’t apparent until weeks later.

Filing a report is also helpful for any coworkers that were involved in the accident who may have been injured as it can back up their workers’ comp claim as well.

Report Injuries to Your Employer

Your employer is the one responsible for filing workers’ comp claims to their insurance company, so you need to report any and all injuries you have suffered as a result of your on-the-job accident. This is especially important for those injuries that aren’t apparent at the time of the accident.

Once you report your injuries to your employer, be sure to follow up with them to make sure your claim was filed.

Meet with an Attorney

You also might want to consider meeting with a workers’ comp attorney following an on-the-job accident. You can usually schedule a free consultation to find out what benefits and compensation you are entitled to.

If your employer is giving you any pushback on filing a workers’ comp claim, you can consult with an attorney on what your best course of action will be.

What to Do After a Workers’ Comp Injury

Now that you know what to do after you’ve suffered a workers’ comp injury, it’s time to take action. The longer you take to report your injury, the less likely it’ll be that you get workers’ compensation.

Looking for more informative content? Browse our site for articles on a wide range of topics!

When 70-80% of consumers actively ignore paid advertisements, ranking highly in organic search results is vital to your business.

SEO isn’t magic. It takes time and dedication, which means it may be smart to hire someone else to take care of it for you. But how do you know who to hire or where to start?

Here are 15 tips to help you choose the right professional SEO firm for your business.

1. Understand There Isn’t a Fix-All Method

Before you seek an SEO firm, it’s important to know that there is no “secret sauce” for SEO marketing.

A low-quality SEO consultant will tell you they have secret optimization techniques that beat the algorithms. This isn’t true.

If you ask a potential firm how they drive results and they say it’s a proprietary method, run away. SEO is an open field and there are various techniques marketers use to improve search rankings. If a company’s method is veiled in secrecy, consider it a red flag.

2. Don’t Trust Google

This might seem like an oxymoron, but don’t automatically trust the first result on Google when looking for a high-quality SEO consultant.

A good SEO company will rank well if they know how to do their job. But the best SEO companies are so overwhelmed by doing good work that they don’t need to worry about optimizing their websites.

Great SEO firms have loyal clients that refer even more loyal clients to them, so they don’t spend resources to gain new clients if they don’t have to.

Many companies that rank well are focusing their energy on ranking well because they don’t have clients. Not that there aren’t any good SEO companies ranking well on Google, but don’t blindly trust Google without doing your own research first.

3. Establish Your Goals First

Before deciding who to hire, know what you’re after. Establish clear goals and share them with the SEO firm in your consultation.

You can’t just say “I want to increase traffic to my website.” Here are examples of good goals:

• We need to boost revenue through new sales and hope SEO will drive those sales.
• We want to promote email sign-ups by offering free trials.
• We want to improve the reputation of our brand by pushing bad reviews down and bringing good reviews up.

The more easily you can measure metrics for it, the better the goal.

4. Define an SEO Budget

Know how much you want to spend before you go after any certain SEO company.

Ask about specials and package deals early on to determine whether a firm’s services are within your budget. Most will be willing to piecemeal their services to work with you.

When selecting a package, always defer to the goal you made in the beginning.

5. Make a List of Options

From your budget and a list of goals, come up with 3-4 good options to choose from. Then, have conversations with each consultant or firm to determine which is the right one for your business.

Good sources for this include personal and professional networks, similar (non-competitive) companies, and industry insiders.

6. Ask Good Questions

Never go into a consultation without a list of relevant questions. They will help guide the conversation and determine whether the firm is a good fit.

Here are some helpful questions to ask:

• How will you improve our search engine rankings?
• Can you share information on past clients and their results?
• Will we have to commit any internal resources?
• How will you keep me informed during the process?

Write out these questions as you make your list of goals and bring them with you to the consultation.

7. Consider In-House SEO

In the middle of your search for an SEO firm, you might have the urge to bring SEO in-house. Your employees know your business better than any consultant ever will. And if your communication is good, it might be worth a shot.

Or, you can always try the consulting thing for a while and determine whether your team can do it. Contract their services for a year, then let your in-house team handle it.

8. Ask for Advice

If you have your heart set on an SEO firm that you can’t afford, ask if they can advise you on the work. Then someone in-house (or someone new you’ve hired) can work under them as an apprentice to learn.

If you go this route, you’ll have an in-house employee coached by the experts, which may be the best of both worlds.

9. Know When to Let It Go

SEO is difficult and extremely competitive. Over 75% of people never click past page one of the results on Google. As such, you need to decide if spending time and money on SEO is worth it.

You may not see much value going from page six to page two. Unless you want to commit and give it your all, SEO may be something you focus on when you have more resources down the road.

10. Ask for Testimonials

If you’re looking for unbiased opinions about an SEO firm, look for reviews. Reading through testimonials and unsolicited online reviews is a great way to find a reputable firm.

Find these reviews by searching for them on Yelp and Glassdoor. Some agencies will provide references and case studies if you ask. Case studies will show you what the company is capable of.

A great firm should have no problem putting you in direct contact with a former client so you can talk with them about their experience. If the company says no to this, it’s not a good sign.

11. Don’t Go Local “Just Because”

Yes, supporting local businesses is always a good thing, but not always with SEO.

SEO can be performed remotely from anywhere. There are many options to choose from, so you’re not stuck with your local SEO agency.

Just be careful about choosing SEO companies in foreign countries. Unless your target audience lives in that country, that may not be a good move.

12. Watch out for Questionable Practices

Be on the lookout for black hat SEO practices. Companies that use “shady” hacks to improve their search results can cause damage to your rankings that take years to recover from. This damage is because Google punishes sites that they catch using these practices.

If an SEO firm makes unrealistic guarantees about results, look elsewhere. Some practices to look out for are:

• Buying links from low-quality, random websites
• Using a program to generate web pages
• Scraping content from other sources
• Using fake press releases to spam links

If you’ve used any of these techniques, let your SEO expert know. They can help you clean up your website so you don’t have a run-in with Google.

And just to be safe, don’t enter a business agreement with anyone who wants to keep copyrights to the metadata they create, edit, or analyze for your website. If you give them this right, they can legally bar you from your site if you leave them for a competitor.

13. Check out Digital Marketing Agencies

Don’t forget to include digital marketing agencies in your search for an SEO firm.

SEO can work seamlessly with pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing, and conversion rate optimization. Some companies offer all of these services at once. If you’re focusing on SEO alone, you may miss these companies that will help you meet your business goals.

14. Familiarize Yourself with Common SEO Tools

Don’t blindly trust anyone you have a consultation with. Before hiring an SEO company, familiarize yourself with common SEO tools and tactics.

Some tools are better than others, so do your research. This way, when you ask what they’re using, you’ll understand their knowledge of SEO. Plus, the more tools they use, the more capabilities they have—this is a win for you.

15. Pay Attention to Their Proposed Timeline

SEO is an ongoing activity that takes patience and time to implement and achieve success. Be wary of any company that promises success with an unrealistic timeline.

A reasonable SEO timeline will outline the firm’s plan from beginning to end. The timeline will probably range from several weeks to months. Make sure they know what you expect as well, so you can work together with a common goal in mind.

It’s Time to Hire a Professional SEO Firm

Now that you’re equipped with these tips, do you feel prepared to hire a professional SEO firm?

You can’t go wrong if you set realistic goals, follow a budget, and ask the right questions before signing any contracts.

If you want to learn more tips for SEO beginners, check out the rest of our site.

Even if you avoid looking at the calendar, you know when it’s getting close to the holiday season. Whether it’s pumpkin spice or frosty snowflakes, it seems like every business jumps aboard the holiday train by adding seasonal design elements to their brand.

While holiday branding can help with your brand awareness, there’s a fine line between spreading joy and seasonal overkill.

Before you make the season part of your brand, read our short guide to seasonal products and branding.

Let Your Logo Say Happy Holidays

Your logo speaks volumes about your business and what message you strive to relay to customers. A logo reflects quality, professionalism, and gives the world insight into the culture you’re building at your company.

Using a holiday theme, give your logo a subtle change by using holiday color schemes in place of your usual palette. Have fun and embellish your logo with a pumpkin, snowman, or bright red holly berries.

Notice the word subtle—keep in mind the critical part your logo plays in your brand identity. You don’t want to change the logo so much your customers no longer recognize it. Have fun with a seasonal design but keep your company’s voice speaking over the din of pumpkins and Santa hats.

Speaking of seasons, don’t limit your business to only using seasonal design elements during the winter holidays. Take advantage of the range of seasons, including those specific to your industry.

Seasonal Designs and Social Media

Social media is the ideal platform to implement seasonal design elements.

You can update your Facebook cover photo with a temporary design inspired by holidays. Switch your usual Twitter header for a seasonal-inspired design with a cozy, inviting message. Greet customers who visit your various social media pages with seasonal imagery and messages.

Make things easy and use a Logo Scheduler Plugin to seamlessly update your logo across email and social media pages for the seasons.

If your company has a blog, post content appropriate for the season. For example, if your business promotes sustainability or you offer green products, write a post about decorating with eco-friendly holiday lighting.

Tie Your Brand in with the Season

When you think about seasonal design, you’ll notice familiar elements that everyone associates with a particular season or holiday.

Even if your brand doesn’t represent pumpkin spice or snowmen, you can find ways to tie your brand into the season.

For example, if you run a cleaning company, create a festive holiday theme on your Facebook page and promote how your services help busy people prepare for the holiday rush or the company party.

There’s no limit to how you can use seasonal design to promote brand awareness.

Ready to Use Seasonal Design in Your Brand?

We hope we’ve inspired you to add a little seasonal cheer to your brand by using touches of seasonal design.

Whether you make subtle changes to your logo, or go all out with seasonal images on your social pages, have fun with it!

If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, continue browsing our blog. You’ll find an array of articles interesting to small business and branding.