International Trade News This Week

International trade is big business, and this week saw a lot of action.

-China sent a delegation to the US to discuss the trade imbalance between the countries.

-India's commerce minister said that it will ask for exemptions from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. 

-In response to Trump's tariffs, European Union raised tariffs on imports from America. 

No matter what your opinion on Trump’s policies might be, international trade is huge and these events could affect you financially in some way - so we wanted to make sure you know about them!

The Purpose of an Introduction: The introduction usually provides context for an article or post. It is usually the first paragraph of an article. It is typically the first sentence. Sometimes, it can be a single word or phrase.

The Disclaimer: This is the section where you can have disclaimers about the validity of information being discussed in a post or article. In most cases, you don't need to add one to an introduction, but it's good practice to add one if you are discussing issues on which you have not researched all sides of a question.

For example, in a post about a Senate bill that would allow states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes, you might have this disclaimer statement: "We are not tax experts and have not researched what this means for every state. It is likely we have made some mistakes in our analysis. Please send us any corrections you have."

The Call to Action: This is the section where you ask (or tell) your reader to do something. There may be more than one call to action. There might also be multiple calls to action in combination with other persuasive techniques. For example, sometimes marketers place social proof and testimonials before the call to action.

The Initial Bullet Point: The first bullet point usually tells a story or gives some important facts to set the stage for the article. It can be a one-sentence paragraph, or several sentences.

The Subsequent Bullet Points: The subsequent bullet points expand on the first bullet point. They provide the details needed for your readers to fully understand what is being discussed in an article. Some bloggers will have only one subsequent bullet point, some have multiple, and some have none.

One of the best ways to find out what writers are saying as they write their articles is by reading their own writing called “first person writing” (the author’s voice). It is not typically used by professional writers or editors. It comes across to the reader as overly informal and too conversational.

As a writer, you can also use first person writing when you are extremely involved in an issue. In that case, it can be an effective way to bring the reader deeper into your own experience of something (like war, political campaigns etc.). Again, it should not be overdone.

Most blogs and writers have no section for word count or page count. This makes it difficult to know when a piece of writing is getting too long or short.

We recommend that all writers include a word count and a page count at the end of their introduction so that the reader can know if something is too long or too short. This is especially important on a website where there are no physical guidelines, such as margins and typeface, to tell you if something fits or doesn't fit.

Here are two examples:

A WORD COUNT: 7000 WORDS

This section is an example of a word count.

STAGE 1: An Introduction should be no longer than 1-2 sentences. It should include a call to action and an initial bullet point.

STAGE 2: Two or more sentences should follow each other in a paragraph. A paragraph can be a couple of sentences, or it can be several sentences. This can also be a long section that is more than one paragraph.

PART 1: This is an example of part 1 (or the first stage).

CHAPTER TWO: This is the title of chapter two, which includes the second stage. It also has a word count and page count in parentheses under it (6000 words and 23 pages).

PART 2: This is an example of part 2 (stage two).

PART 3: This is an example of part 3 (stage three).

APPENDIX ONE: This is an example of appendix one.

A PAGE COUNT: 23 PAGES

Another method for a page count instead of a word count is to include this section at the end of your material: “This document contains 23 pages.” Or, you can use the word count along with the page count as follows: “This document contains 7000 words (about 22-23 pages).”

You can also make your own rules about how many words or pages to write as you follow each stage. If you find it hard to keep track of how many words you have written and how many pages have been written, then you might want to write less than you are comfortable with. After all, being okay with writing 5000 words can be several times longer than being okay with writing 4500 words.

When putting together a piece of writing, ask yourself if it is long enough. Sometimes people do not include the word count or page count because they think it is not necessary – or that the audience is familiar enough with the topic to know.

For example, some intelligent readers might think they know how long a website article should be. They may even know that it should only be a single sentence. However, if you are writing for an audience that is not familiar with the topic, they might not know how many words to expect from an article about it. And so your readers don't know how much material to read or when their time is running out, they may not read all of the part they can read before deciding to stop reading.

Conclusion

The introduction should orient your reader to the context for your article or post – where it fits in a series of articles, why you are writing about it, and what readers can expect from the full article or post.

Remember that the introduction may also be a call to action. It is important to write an introduction that will make your readers take action. This could be anything from clicking on a link in an email to clicking on the title of a post or article while they are on your website. The ultimate goal is that they read the complete post or article (and related content).