Content: Small business owners have a daunting daily challenge managing a wide array of daily operations. They must keep customers coming through their doors (or to their website), or see that stores are properly stocked with inventory, or deliver the perfect order every time (and with a smile). They must balance the need for low costs, proper inventory levels and maximum service. They must ensure that they are maintaining a competitive advantage in some way unique to their talents, skills, gifts, and abilities.
Write a popular press article for a popular press publication that focuses on providing succinct advice to a small business owner (or owners). You may choose a topic of your own as long as it is business related. You may also choose one of the following topical areas:
Developing a working supply chain process for a small business.
How to choose the first social media for your business.
What to look for in your first employee.
How to maintain a “just-in-time” (JIT) inventory.
Is too much customer service a bad thing.
Balancing your time spent marketing with your time spent selling.
The factors between creating a website or a Facebook account.
Hiring or contracting employees.
In other words, from your research, present specific advice, principles, key points, elements, objectives, etc., as to how a small business should take the next step into one of these areas. without creating conflict for those with whom they have to interact and work. The content should be original and should provide value to the readership.
You are strongly encouraged to research, interview, and share in descriptive storytelling style the details of what you recommend the business owner do by sharing what others have done to address the problem. To the extent possible, you can use your own business product/service as an example when discussing the topic you choose.
A recommended process for developing a popular press article involves:
1. Select a topic – the more specific, the better. Select a topic that is popular and that others would be interested in.
2. Select a publication that caterers to a specific readership.
3. Determine the guidelines for publication. If there are none provided, review several articles from the publication to determine word count, format, structure, etc.
4. Write to the guidelines.
For this assignment, you will submit two specific things:
1. The article you write written in the format as specified by the writer’s guidelines (aka author guidelines) of the publication you choose, and
2. A copy of the writer’s guidelines in the article (or a link to the guidelines in the article). Your article will be scored/graded against how well you adhered to the publication’s writer’s guidelines. And, yes, you need to include references/citations so your research is documented.
Format: Choose a publication and follow the writer’s/author’s guidelines for style, format, length, etc. and send the guidelines to the professor along with your article. It must be a genuine print publication (it can have an online component to the publication), and it can be an industry publication. The method you use for footnotes should follow the writer’s guidelines if you intend to get this article published.
