GloboTrends guidelines:

• what we are NOT:  we do not seek to compete with Bloomberg / Reuters (ie. we are not in the news delivery business)
• we interpert, think, and offer original insights to business trends
• What are global Trends?  See our list here:  Top Trends for 2009 (these are only suggestions of topics that our readers might expect from the GloboTrends Blog)
• Global / Macro events are ones that have the potential of effecting people / investors in more than one country.

We encourage professionals to submit columns to be PUBLISHED in our blog

• original work not published or posted elsewhere (except, maybe on your own personal blog)
• 500-1500 words in length;  (The length of posts can vary.  Some might be longer, others with a shorter insight. ...One strategy is to break a long article into mini-posts (part 1, part 2, etc).....
• Level:  written at an analytical level that is higher than a typical newspaper column but very much more accessible than a journal article;
• Focus / Audience:  investor focused, global-macro theme, perhaps policy relevant and research-based.

Guide for new writers:

To make a post...look on the upper left hand corner. for "post" ..."add new"....and start typing...you can save draft...and come back later....and you can "preview" to see what it would look like...when you are ready to post...click "publish", and your done

For editing:

• there is a bar of options for you to choose (bold, italics, etc)
• If you dont see the UNDERLINE button...then ....there is a little toggle-button that looks like a mini-keyboard (with colors)....click on that....and it opens up a SECOND row of editing options...
• there, you will see options such as "PARAGRAPH".... i like option "paragraph 3"  for size of headers....and just regular text for the rest....
• if you want to copy / paste from WORD....there is a little button there on the second row of options that will help you do so....(ask if you have any questions :-)

Tips for getting started:

1. start writing.  Test drive your material in our forum or wiki...test response, and form your ideas ....then, copy paste, reformat & publish...
2. read the news from blogs you respect (my list is found on my blogroll -- right side column ....near the bottom of this page)
3. Then, using the ideas that pop in your head from reading....start a DRAFT blog post....just collect your thoughts there (or here in the wiki) until later...
4. keep many drafts.... save them....think about them....and come back later to finish (I keep 10 + drafts going at any time...)

To get noticed.....some tips...to help build a community of readers around your content..

• I try to post once or twice per week, but you can choose your own frequency to meet your schedule (Middle of the week usually gets more readers than the weekend)
• I discovered that ...if I put a brief paragraph at the top of the article to summarize my main points (of what is to come)...it increases the likelihood of google search engine finding you.
• put in bold or add links to the key words (also helps google find you)....but dont add too many, or the visitors/ readers get turned off.
• Tip:  adding links to other people's blogs is good...they will probably find you, and come and comment on your post if you do so...
• Title:  while its tempting to try and name pages with funny titles...it wont help google search find you.  the title page is important to name with at least one key word