What Does A Fashion Designer Do?
Fashion designing is deemed as one of the most successful careers in the modern world. They can easily make a lot of money by making creative designs in the field of clothing accessories. Fashion designers are the ones who create original designs for clothing, footwear and other accessories. They make sketches, selects patterns and fabrics to be used, and oversee the production of the products in the manufacturing unit. There are a lot of duties to be performed by a fashion designer to become successful in this field.A fashion designer should be well aware of the trends in the fashion world and should anticipate the type of design which will appeal to the masses. Most of the designers create their designs as collection. Before making a collection of clothing they will have to choose a theme for it. The whole collection will be consisting of clothing, foot wear and other accessories which will match with them. Such designs can be made by hand sketches or by computer aided designs. Most of the times, the designs start with hand sketches and the final designs will be developed in computer aided design programs.One important factor which is overlooked by most of the budding fashion designers is in the selection of fabrics. A professional designer will be keen about choosing such fabrics which are not yet released in the market. For achieving this they will go to trade shows for getting the right fabric designs or make pacts with the fabric manufacturers for creating specially designed ones for them. The design of clothing will become final only when all the accessories which go with them are designed. Before creating the finalized products they will fist make a prototype collection of all the dresses to make sure about its functionality. Then with the help of a team of designers and workers they create the final product.The final stage of designing a collection is to market it successfully to the consumers. In this modern world the options available for marketing the products are easier than before. The designs and ideas that are devised can be taken to a creative director and showcase them in fashion shows and other trade shows. After the launch of the products you can send it to the retail market or start your own store for selling them. The latest available option is to start an online store and give a lot of advertisements for promoting them. Advertisement will create a brand name for the designer and the products made by him; and the online sale will aid in getting a lot of profit than selling through physical stores.
Writing for Children – Step-By-Step Through Educational Publishing
If you enjoy writing nonfiction and love to research topics in all sorts of different subject areas then educational publishing just might be right for you. Many educational publishers need writers. Surprisingly, though, these publishers generally don’t advertise that fact to writer’s magazines or market guides. So here’s how to get started in this active market.DEVELOP A FOCUSThere are basically two different areas of focus you can take in educational publishing. The first is on writing nonfiction (and some fiction, too) that will be used directly by children (sometimes with the help of a parent or teacher). This type of material includes reference books, early-readers, remedial readers, textbooks, educational games, workbooks, and even CDs.The second focus available in the educational market is creating and developing materials that will be used with children by parents, librarians, and teachers. These materials include everything from books of language arts activities designed to help teachers in the classroom, to books of bulletin board ideas and finger puppet patterns.It doesn’t really matter which focus you choose. There are dozens of opportunities available for writers who want to develop educational materials directly for kids, as well as opportunities for those writers who wish to develop materials for teachers and parents to use with kids.ASSESS YOUR SKILLS AND BACKGROUNDTo develop a focus in educational publishing you will need to assess your skills and background. If you have experience as a preschool or elementary school teacher or librarian, for example, there are many educational publishers who might like to work with you.Do you speak fluent Spanish, in addition to English? Then you might be able to freelance for educational publishers that produce books for children who are learning English as a second language.Even if you don’t speak Spanish (or any other foreign language for that matter) and you’ve never been a librarian or a teacher, you can still break into children’s educational publishing. Many publishers don’t require authors to have a background in education. They simply want good writers who know how to thoroughly research a topic and write about it in a way that children will find interesting and easy to understand. An excellent way to test your researching skills will be to research different educational publishers. Find out which ones do hire writers without teaching experience, and which ones do hire writers to develop projects they create in house (more about this later).DEVELOP YOUR RESUME OR BIOOnce you develop a focus for the type of educational materials you want to create, you will need to let publishers know you’re available and what you have to offer. For this you will need a brief bio or a resume. A bio (short for biography) consists of a few sentences or paragraphs that describe your background and publishing experience. The back inside cover of most books (both fiction and nonfiction) usually includes a short bio of the author. Read the bios of a few of your favorite authors until you get the hang of how a bio should be written. You probably won’t have as much publishing experience as your favorite author, but you’ll still be able to come up with a sentence or two that describes your work as a writer and/or educator. It might be something as simple as, “Mary Roberts is a former third grade teacher with over 20 years of experience in the classroom. While she was teaching, Ms. Roberts developed a wide variety of activities to use with her students.”A resume is longer than a bio. It should include a list of your publishing credits, any writing related experience, and a list of your teaching experience (if applicable), as well as your education.In addition to a bio or resume, you’ll need to get good at writing cover letters. A cover letter simply introduces you to the publisher and explains that you are either looking for assignments with this publisher or you wish to submit your own ideas for publication. If you hope to submit your own ideas for publication, you’ll need to learn how to write a proposal or prospectus. Many publishers have guidelines for proposals at their website. In fact, some publishers even have a form you can complete online that will let you pitch your idea directly to an editor to see if there’s any interest in your idea before you go to all the work of developing a full proposal.Generally, a proposal should include an outline or a table of contents for the book you are proposing, an introduction or overview, and enough sample pages to give editors a clear idea of the book you are proposing, as well as your writing style. If you’re proposing a book with illustrations, yet you’re not an illustrator, don’t worry about the illustrations. Simple drawings that make your ideas clear will be sufficient. Usually the publisher has artists on staff, or will hire an outside artist, to illustrate your book if it is accepted for publication.STUDY THE MARKETSOnce you’ve developed a bio or resume, it’s time to start studying the markets. Skim through the pages of a current children’s book market guide to find listings for a wide array of educational book publishers that produce materials for children, parents, and educators. Many of these listings include the URL for each publisher’s website. Go to publishers’ websites that you are interested in writing for to see if manuscript submission guidelines, along with information about their current needs, are posted there. Search these websites carefully. Sometimes the manuscript submission guidelines are a bit difficult to find. Look under the “About Us” or “Contact Us” pages if you don’t see a link directly to submission guidelines. Once you get to the guidelines, study them carefully. Also, study the kinds of books and other materials this publisher publishes by looking through their online catalog or list of products.Also send off for publishers’ catalogs, then look through them to see how much space is allocated to each subject. If most of the space in a catalog is allocated to products about science, for example, then you will have a better chance of selling science related products to this publisher than you would materials for other subject areas.CONTACT PUBLISHERSOnce you’ve developed a bio and resume, and you’ve studied several educational publishers, you’ll need to contact the publishers that interest you. If you don’t have a manuscript you wish to submit, but would like to write for a particular educational publisher, send a cover letter asking if they hire writers to develop titles they create in house. Include your bio or resume, along with a few clips of articles you have published (if you have them) or some writing samples.As you gain writing experience and acquire more writing credits, chances are you will also develop more contact with other writers. Learn to network with these people to find out about additional opportunities with educational publishers.In the end, most educational publishers just want good writers and researchers. If that describes you, then educational publishing just might be what you’ve been looking for to get your writing career off the ground.
Third Quarter 2013 Business for Sale Market Update
The International Business Broker Association (IBBA) recently released a third quarter report discussing the current state of the market. The intention is to provide an accurate understanding of the major factors affecting the buying and selling of businesses. This report focuses on two major markets, separated by the sale value.The Main Street market includes all businesses that are valued at $2 million or below. The lower middle market includes businesses valued between $2 million and $50 million. This article will provide a comprehensive overview of the major points covered in the quarterly report, aiding business owners wishing to sell or buy a company.Market OverviewCertain markets within the industry are favoring the buyers while others are favoring the sellers. The Main Street market is currently acting as a buyer’s market. The lower middle market, on the other hand, is in favor of the seller’s. Analysts predict that the overall volume of sales occurring over the next 3 months will continue to increase. Business owners are continuing to list their company on the market, while the number of sellers also continues to increase.Reasons for Buying and SellingRecent surveys have indicated that the dominate reason business owners are selling their companies is for retirement purposes. Buyers that are acquiring companies for greater than $5 million are made up, equally, of private equity firms and existing companies that are expanding. Businesses that are selling for $2 million or less are being purchased by individual buyers. These buyers state that their primary motivation to buy a company is to be in charge and experience the empowerment and flexibility of being a business owner.Multiplier ValuesExamining average multiplier values occurring recently provides insight into the state of the market. Businesses valued in the Main Street market have been selling at a multiplier of 3.0 or less. Those companies valuing at less than $500,000, utilize a multiplier of 2.0. The lower middle market depicts a vastly different image, indicating a strong seller’s market. Companies valuing between $5 million and $50 million contain much higher multipliers, averaging 5.8. The companies that fall between $2 million and $5 million contain an average multiplier of 4.3. It is a good idea to keep these figures in mind when in the market to purchase a company. They will provide some guidance on whether or not the seller’s asking price is a fair and reasonable.Reasons for Deal Termination
Having an understanding of the issues that most frequently cause a deal to be terminated will aid you in implementing precautionary measures and, successfully, avoid these problems. The number one reason that a deal is terminated is due to unrealistic expectations. This includes unrealistic valuation and additional demands. Both sellers and buyers can avoid this by hiring a professional to aid in the valuation process.The statistics and information that has been reviewed are the most important findings that were included in the most recent quarterly report. Before embarking on a business buying or selling adventure, become adequately prepared by thoroughly reviewing this information. The contents of this article will put you in a position to knowledgeably negotiate the sale of a business.