Errors to Avoid in Addressing a Cover Letter


Cover letter errors: Fixable!

It may surprise you to learn that most mistakes in the cover letter that accompanies a resume are made in the address line; and while many professionals spend extra time to revise their cover letter in an effort to make sure it is personalized to the position for which they are applying, they seem to disregard a very important and prominent area of that letter, which is its address line.

This can be very problematic since the address line in a cover letter is the first piece of information a potential employer sees in that resume package. Think about it in the sense that if mistakes are made in the address line, it is very likely that the potential employer will discard your letter and you will lose an opportunity to be considered a candidate for the job you really want.

However, there is good news: these errors can be avoided, and in the following paragraphs we discuss a few frequently repeated errors, as well as items which should be added, deleted or corrected before that cover letter is sent to a potential employer along with your well-written resume.

To whom the letter is addressed

Not addressing your cover letter to a person is a big mistake in the world of cover letters, as generic greetings such as, “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Human Resources Team,” are not looked upon favorably; and if the job description or posting does not include a contact person, it will be necessary to do a little research and find out who the appropriate contact person is for the job you are seeking. In addition, you must avoid addressing the letter to a job title.

You can call the organization or send an email to the human resource department to find out exactly who the hiring manager or the job recruiter is, and address the cover letter directly to that person. However, if you find it futile or impossible to find out who the appropriate contact is, you should simply take the most recommended course of action by leaving off any kind of generic greetings and simply begin the cover letter.

Spelling of the organization name

Misspelling the name of an organization to which you are applying for a job is really a bit careless and should not happen; but unfortunately is occurs more frequently than you would expect; and even if the cover letter is being addressed to a specific person, it is important (it’s recommended) that the company name and address be still included in the cover letter. So it is a definite plus to always make sure that the company name is spelled correctly.

Hiring managers and recruiters know from experience that misspelling the company name is a common mistake, but they also know that it’s the easiest one to avoid; so triple-check the company name on your cover letter, because if your potential employer receives the letter with an incorrect spelling of his/her company name, your letter will never make it past the first person who receives it. Let’s face it, an incorrect spelling of a company name, essentially makes that company the wrong addressee, right? Think about it!

Immediately stating your purpose

Make sure your first sentence explains why you are contacting the company, because if it doesn’t the reader might choose not to read any further. This is a common mistake, as many people assume that stating why they’re contacting the company regarding employment is unnecessary due to the fact that it is already stated on their resume.

However, this is not the case, so let your potential employer know exactly why you are contacting them; and identify the job you are interested in by stating its title, as well as and how your qualifications make you an ideal candidate for it.

Your first statement needs to be straight forward, energetic, and positive; and it should invite the employer to read through your cover letter in its entirety. Keep in mind that bland and generic opening statements will most likely result in disinterest on the part of your potential employer, and your resume will not get pass the first review.

Since the goal of a cover letter is to create interest in your resume and, by extension, in you as a candidate for the available position, to not insure that your cover letter is professional and error-free will defeat your purpose of sending it in the first place.

A Newbie Entry Guide to Affiliate Marketing

Business via the Internet space

With aid of the Internet (or the Web as it is often referred to) we can have almost everything right at our fingertips; and with just a few clicks we can get access to thousands, or even millions of pieces of data and relevant information on virtually any field of interest. And over the past two decades the Internet has – and continues to – effect torrential changes in many facets of human endeavors, including commerce, education, health and finance, among others.

Experts say that the information space, commonly known as the “World Wide Web,” grows by over a million pages everyday as more and more people utilize the Web for information, education, entertainment, business and other personal reasons. Moreover, it really doesn’t take a business-oriented individual to realize that this phenomenon can bring about substantial financial gains. That having been said, the unprecedented rapidity of growth in Internet use over the same two decade time span presents business opportunities that any entrepreneurial minded individual would jump at.

In view of the above, if you think that only business persons can make a lot of money from the Web, you might have to do some rethinking of this viewpoint, because you too – if you turn your attention to it – can earn big bucks through effective use of the Internet, even if you don’t have a product/service (‘product’) to sell, or a high-profile and established company. And if you are wondering, how? The answer is through affiliate marketing, which is a very popular Web-based business type you might have come across while surfing.

A win-win for merchant and affiliate

Affiliate Marketing is a revenue sharing system based on contracts and various “terms of use” guidelines agreed to between product owners (‘merchants’) and promoters/marketers (‘affiliates’) who get paid for referring customers to merchants’ sites, and/or promoting the merchants’ products and services on their own websites. It is one of the burgeoning Web-based industries because it is proven to be a cost-effective, efficient and quantifiable means of attaining significant earnings – most of which can be considered profit due to the very low to non-existent overhead – both for the merchant and the affiliate, as well as other players in the affiliate program (affiliate networks and affiliate solution providers).

Affiliate Marketing works effectively for the merchant and the affiliate; the former because s/he utilizes this method to advertise products to a larger market, which in turn increases the chances to earn more; and the latter because of the opportunity to market and sell products and get paid a commission without having to incur the expense of creating those products. The more affiliate websites or hard-working affiliates the merchant gets, the more sales s/he can expect; and by getting affiliates to market his/her products, s/he is saving time, effort and money it would take to look for possible markets and customers.

When a client clicks on a link in the affiliate website, purchases the product, recommends it to others who might be looking for the same item or buys it again, a merchant multiplies the chances of substantial earnings. On the other hand, an affiliate marketer benefits from each customer who clicks on the link in his website and who actually purchases the product or avails him/herself of the service provided by the merchant, because that affiliate gets paid a commission (percentage or fixed amount) for each sale made as a result of such clicks.

For the new affiliate

Consider for a moment that you wanted to be an affiliate marketer and, according to what you’ve learned, make your own small fortune from the Web. You would begin by following the three most basic and easiest steps to your own affiliate marketing business. First you would identify a particular item you are interested in, or passionate about, so you won’t be bored and forced to develop your affiliate website later on. Focusing on a specific area you know very well will help you bring out your best without much risks and effort.

Affiliate Marketing: How to make money and create an income

You can add a personal touch to your site and give your visitors, who are potential buyers, an impression that you are an expert in your field. This way you can gain their trust and eventually encourage them to buy the products you endorse. Next is to look for good paying merchants and products or services related to your interest and create now a website; but make sure, while choosing your affiliate products, that you must consider their conversion rate (—the number of visitors-turned-buyers).

Keep in mind also that there are various affiliate networks and affiliate solution providers that can provide you with information on the most popular, in-demand and profitable products along with the best paying merchants; so the key here is to be wise enough to choose the right one(s). Now that you have decided where to concentrate, have chosen the products to endorse and the merchant(s) you are supporting and have created your own website with a top level domain name and reliable hosting, you are ready to promote.

Start promoting

Promoting is a crucial task, since it is through this activity that you would be able to drive traffic to your business website, increase sales and of course, make a profit. In affiliate marketing, it is entirely possible to earn large sums of money in a short period of time, especially when you’re endorsing high-priced items. Expensive products are hard to sell; but with the right marketing strategies and sales techniques, you can attract visitors to your site, redirect them to the merchant’s site and entice them to buy products.

Techniques, strategies and methods of how to best promote the products would, however, need a separate article and discussion; so in the meantime, just continue to educate yourself by reading affiliate marketing guides, books (ebooks) or other online articles about the best advertising techniques. Remember that there is really no facility for a quick path to success; because while affiliate marketing may seem very tempting due to the numerous encouraging testimonies of merchants and affiliate marketers alike who have benefited from it, it still entails a great deal of hard work and persistence.

Likewise, you need to be creative, flexible and willing to embrace new ideas to market your partners’ products until you find the perfect strategy that works for a specific market which you are targeting. Neither signing up for an affiliate program nor copying ads and leading others towards the merchants’ site guarantees success; and many affiliate marketers fail to understand this, leading them to quit when they don’t make sales and start looking for other programs with which they invariably repeat the same mistake.

Persisting through failure

This type of failure due to inconsistency, impatience and misinterpretation of what the affiliate marketing business is all about and how it should be conducted often lead the unsuccessful “would-be” affiliate to conclude that affiliate marketing is just one of those scams in the Web. The truth is that even as you’re asleep, you can work your way to great financial success if you employ the right strategies in affiliate marketing. So be smart, be creative and be persistent in your affiliate marketing business and surely, you’ll achieve success in affiliate marketing.

As a token of our appreciation the free ebook titled, Storytelling Marketing can be yours if you have any interest in the art of storytelling. All you have to do is download it here, enjoy the reading and learn how storytelling can be a powerful ally in any business or marketing pursuit!

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