TIPS ON WRITING SUCCESSFUL TIPS

People like tips because they are bite-sized, easy to understand, and save them time in their work. When writing a tip, consider the following:

  • Make the title catchy but informative. It needs to hook the attention of a reader enough that they click it to read the tip.
  • Use your own words and your own screenshots. We don’t want tips which were plagiarized from other sources.
  • Be sure to pick the correct subject list, as all our tips are organized by subject.
  • Use any standard screen capture program for screen shots (stills, not movies). Where possible, include any relevant menus.
  • Make the screen shot clearly illustrate a key step in the process. Our screen shots are only 350 pixels wide, so your goal is to illustrate the essence of the tip to prevent a reader from getting confused about where to do something.
  • Keep the tip itself short. Explain what the tip does, then provide a clear step-by-step path from start to finish.
  • The hardest part of doing anything for the first time is getting started. Take extra care to clearly explain the initial steps of any tip.
  • Use simple words, not all readers speak English natively.
  • Feel free to add your personality, but don’t get carried away.
  • Keep it clean. Make sure both your language and images are suitable for a general audience.
  • Keep it short. Most tips run about 200 words.

After you submit a tip, we will review it. Things we check for include:

  • Accuracy. Does the tip actually work and does it relate to the subject you selected for?
  • Clarity. We need tips that are clear in writing and procedure.
  • Screen shot. Does it illustrate what you are writing about and is it small enough?

We may modify the title to fit with our style guidelines. As well, based on your tip, we’ll create a sub-title and summary that are part of the promotion of your tip in our email newsletters. Keep in mind that not all submitted tips will be promoted or released.

Once the tip is reviewed and approved, it will be scheduled for a newsletter and released.  We’ll send you an email, to the address you provided with the submission, when your tip is scheduled telling you which tip, which list and what day.

If you have any questions, just send us an email and ask.