Robert A W Bailey

RAW Bailey

Writing Portfolio2016

IntroductionMA Language and Linguistics

Dip Digital Marketing

Groups I’ve written for include:

Hi,

I’m Robert Bailey and if you’re reading this, it probably means I would like the opportunity to write for you!

I am a quick and versatile writer and researcher, able to cover a range of topics with ease, and I can create interesting writing for you in a short peri-od of time.

I have experience with search engine optimisation (SEO) and so can tailor your articles so they will show up as high as possible on search engine re-sults pages.

Besides having completed an MA in Language and linguistics with a focus essentially in how to best write for certain audiences (stylistics and dis-course), I have also worked with several companies, agencies and even print publications.

I have written in a various range of styles including, but not limited to, copy writing, advertisements, online blog entries, online viral advertisements, re-portage, journalistic profile pieces, Op-Ed and more personal work.

I have placed some examples of my work in this portfolio and hope you can consider me.

Robert Bailey

Robaili.com

Bartercard is a system designed in order to connect businesses and peo-ple around the world. Once they are together, it allows them to exchange goods and services without the need for cash or cash equivalents. With over 54,000 cardholders worldwide, how can Bartercard be bad? Whilst there has been some negative press surrounding Bartercard, let us clear some of these up here. Bartercard costs me more money in the long-term. Bartercard can actually save you money. Whilst some worry about having a growing list of Bartercard clients and a growing level of credit on your bal-ance sheet, this credit can be used with a huge range of suppliers available for you to connect with through Bartercard. Bartercard does not have the suppliers that I need. Bartercard has a huge range of suppliers offering many different services and goods; 54,000 members and expanding. Moreover, with a continually growing user base both domestically and internationally, the selection avail-able to members will only increase. I can’t use Barter Dollars like real money. It is still possible to use barter dollars in a similar way to real money. Within the Bartercard community it used to help expand and grow your business. Barter dollars can also be used to invest in services, including online and print marketing, which can really help your business to take off in new di-rections. Bartercard can lead to my business losing customers. Bartercard does not detract from a business’s primary clientele or means of making money, but rather adds to it. By using Bartercard, you are actually able to increase your customer base. This not only gives your business more exposure to new and varied customers, but may unlock cheaper and more efficient supply line. Bartercard is only a good option if I’m already established. Whilst Bartercard does offer an exciting range of opportunities for those who are already established, it can also help get you there in the beginning. Bartercard can offer start-up ventures an interest-free barter dollar credit line, which frees up your cash for investment in other areas and allows for a faster, more seamless, start-up. Check out Bartercard online and see how it can offer your business an excit-ing and new array of abilities and opportunities.

SEO Optimisation

Why should I use Bartercard?

I remember going camping with my family when I was younger and we would always be missing something by the time we had unpacked and set everything up. One time we had forgotten the tent pegs, so had to load the tents up with heavy things so they didn’t go for a journey of their own when we were out trekking. Another time, the camping stove we bought didn’t have a gas cylinder in it, leaving us to go to restaurants or eat cold food for the entire trip. It wasn’t until my family upgraded to a caravan that these problems seemed to magically disappear. The caravan, year round, was stocked with the essentials and ready to go whenever we wanted. Caravan and RV camping is a great way to explore the great outdoors in relative luxury, but making sure you’re prepared for the journey ahead is still important. Buying reliable equipment and trusted brands from quality sellers is the first step. Caravan RV Camping is one of these such sellers. Caravan RV Camping is ac-tually a part of the Caravan Repair Centre based on Queensland, who have over twenty years of experience working with RV’s and Caravans. Because of this, they know what usually goes wrong with caravans when they’re out there in the field and they know how to best help you prepare for it. You can ask them about parts, modifications, upgrades, accessories and of course those all-important luxuries. Caravan RV Camping will talk through your options with you and make sure you make the best possible decision for your journey; they might even help you to add a few things on the top (Would you like satellite TV for when it’s raining?). You can go instore or visit them online at https://www.caravanrvcamping.com.au/ to check out their stock. Their website also offers a large range of tips and articles about caravan and RV camping to help get you started or answer any basic questions you may have. Checklists are particularly impor-tant to make sure you don’t forget any of the essentials like we used to do. All that’s left after you’ve had your questions answered, prepared your equipment and gotten everyone packed in the car, is to head off on your adventure. After you get there, the rest is up to you.

Niche TopicsSEO Optimisation

Camping isn’t all about the preparation, but it sure helps

In 2002, Linkedin was released, 2004 marked the launch of Facebook, 2005 was the beginning of YouTube, 2006 gave us Twitter, 2007 saw Google+ emerge and three years later, Instagram popped up in 2010. What these new platforms did for digital marketing should not be underestimated. 100 million 400 million, 1 billion and 1.65 billion are the number of monthly active users Linkedin, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook have, respectively. What was previously more akin to blanket marketing, in that advertise-ments were placed in as many places as possible in order to reach as large an audience as possible, could now be tailored to users’ interests through their social media preferences. As these social media platforms’ user bases have increased, so too have businesses’ awareness of their importance in optimizing marketing strategies for this new, digital age. Here at USEO (United Search Engine Optimisation) based in the UAE, we specialise in making sure that brands and products are able to keep up with these social networks. We can help whether you want to expand your busi-ness internationally, within the UAE or just in a city, and we can help make sure that the prospective clients you need, and you want, are able to find you. Our social media services will not only help with raising public awareness of you brand, but will also be able to help direct and focus the voice of your business, making sure that you can forge relationships of trust with your customers. This is done by conducting thorough research of your market and the prospective target audience to ensure that we know what matters to them. Reputation management is one of the most important parts of making sure your brand can develop in a way customers trust and believe in. Consulta-tion with you will ensure that we continue to develop forwards by using your unique voice and style, and so letting your customers know that they can trust your vision and your brand. Moreover, our team make sure to pay attention to the wider changing trends in the market and how customers are reacting to them. This allows us to make informed and logical decisions based on all the information available, and ensure that your company doesn’t fall behind. For a wider selection of the services we offer, come and look at our website http://www.unitedseo.ae or contact us with your questions.

Expertise highlights

Modern marketing isn’t as simple as you think...

Mosquitos. Mosquitos are everywhere, and despite their bites being a sim-ple case of annoyance most of the time, they can be a potential health haz-ard when ignored. You see, when a mosquito bites you, they not only take your blood, but they leave behind a little present: a sampling of their sali-va. Their saliva is packed with anticoagulants, which stop your blood from thickening and helps them to keep on sucking. Unfortunately, this saliva wakes up your immune system, and as our immune system kicks into gear, the combination of anticoagulants and antibodies leads to the release of histamines. Now, you probably recognize the name histamine because of the anti-hista-mine creams you can buy across the counter at your local drugstore. Well, histamines are what cause the inflammatory response from your body, and the swelling and itching which comes with it. Scratching this swelling makes your immune system think that the problem is getting worse, which leads to more antibodies, so more histamines and finally, more swelling. However, swelling is not the worst thing that mosquitos can leave behind. A host of deadly diseases can be transmitted by mosquitos in their saliva. Whilst harmless to the mosquito, they can kill a person. Malaria, Dengue fe-ver, encephalitis, yellow fever, the West Nile Virus (found in North America), meningitis (the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord) and the recently warned about and spreading Zika virus, are all health hazards transmitted by mosquitos. Whilst it is not uncommon for people in areas with large amounts of mos-quitos to build up a natural immunity to these little guys, it is only because they are bit frequently and constantly, and their immunity does not help to protect them from the other, more dangerous, diseases. Moreover, because they are not immune from the start, there is a long period of continuous swelling before they are finally able to hold them off. For most people, find-ing other ways to avoid mosquitos is usually the best choice. Of course, there are several measures you can take to prevent mosquitos from coming into your life in the first place. Firstly, make sure to eliminate standing water around the house; this includes regularly changing water bowls for your pets and ensuring pond water is in a state of movement (in-stalling a fountain or a reliable filter can help). Secondly, you can wear protective, light-colored clothing. Mosquitos are actually able to zero in on you if you stand out from your background, so wearing more camouflaged clothing can help to stop mosquitos from even noticing you in the first place.[Continued]

Detailed ResearchExpertise highlights

Natural ways to keep mosquitos away

Modern Umbrellas are both practical and fashionable. Being British, many people seem to believe that we al-ways walk around carrying umbrellas in case it’s going to rain. Whilst this isn’t entirely true, I must say that an umbrella is usually an integral part of going outside dur-ing an overcast day. Surprisingly, umbrella designs have largely remained the same as those used over two-thou-sand years ago. However, design methods and materi-als have changed; hand-crafting has been replaced by automated machines, and bamboo and wood has been replaced with steel and plastic. Yet within the small village of TangWu, within the Yu-hang district of HangZhou, lies a small workshop called the Paper Umbrella Studio; a place quickly gathering steam in its mission to revive the popularity and in-crease knowledge of the traditional Chinese art-form of the Oil-paper Umbrella. I can remember seeing these types of umbrellas in films depicting traditional china. Often used during formal ceremonies or festivals or to show the importance and high-ranking nature of one character, or being held by beautiful women to shelter them from the sun and to further highlight their beauty.Whilst it is unknown when the Oil-paper Umbrella first appeared, they rose to prominence during the Ming dy-nasty; with people using them to protect from both the rain and the sun. Yet due to the comparative ease it takes to make modern umbrellas, the truly traditional craft of Oil-paper Umbrellas is in danger of dying out. TangWu is becoming one of most important places for the survival of this craft. When we arrived, I was sur-prised to be greeted by the young twenty-something Liu WeiXue and Tang Wei outside the workshop. Liu WeiX-ue owns the site and would later tell me that he majored in Visual Arts at Hangzhou Normal University, whilst Tang Wei majors in Graphic Design at Fudan University.

Oiling a Paper Tradition

[Continue at Robaili.com/2016/05/12/oiling-paper-tradition-where-oil-paper-umbrellas-are-mak-ing-a-comeback/]

Journalism

Both of them, childhood friends, have dedicated them-selves to the pursuit of art and reviving China’s tradi-tional art culture. After general introductions, we are led towards a large gate made of bamboo, and Liu WeiXue guides us into the workshop. You can immediately see the hard work and effort which has been put into con-structing and assembling these delicate and elegant um-brellas. One in particular stands out, not least due to its size. Being 3 meters in diameter, we are told the 8.2KG umbrella took eight days to make.TangWu lies within a small valley surrounded by moun-tains, upon which bamboo trees grow in their thou-sands. The Village’s main source of income is this bam-boo, and the Paper Umbrella Studio uses locally sourced bamboo when constructing the frames for their umbrel-las. The valley contains few houses, and the green forests and mountains rise to meet a bright blue sky: on this day cloudless. The workshop itself is simple, yet it’s easy to see that people work here day-in and day-out. The equipment is old; Liu WeiXue explains that one machine dates back to the 1940’s. The main workshop leads back into a tradi-tion style kitchen, with wood burning stoves and a mu-ral painted by Liu WeiXue’s grandfather, Liu YouQuan, which is dedicated to what China was like when he was younger. Behind the stove, a natural skylight lets the sun sink into the room, along with the cold. I ask how they can stand the cold during the winter and Liu WeiXue says that they don’t feel it when they’re working. The artistic nature of these people is reflected in their very way of life. A traditional dowry cabinet lies in the kitch-en area, also painted in elaborate styles by Liu WeiXue’s Grandfather.

Oiling a Paper Tradition

Journalism

Do Foreigners in China have a Time Limit?

[Continued at: Robaili.com/2016/04/05/do-foreigners-in-china-have-a-time-limit/]

Op-Ed

A friend recently told me that he’s worried how Chi-na is going to be in the next five years for foreigners. His premise was that as foreigners started to visit a new country, the locals were intrigued, yet as that trickle turned into a stream and a stream into a river, those same locals would start to resent those they had previ-ously shown curiosity towards. Moreover, the govern-ment itself would start to crack down on this influx in an effort to keep its concept of “national identity” intact. How long will it be before China moves away from its current climate of hospitality and towards a more insu-lar atmosphere, as many western countries seem to have done in the face of the current immigration crisis? If I ask my Chinese friends, the unanimous answer is of course ‘never’, and that China does not need to resort to these things in order to secure its own national identity. In a way, I have to agree with them, they have a popu-lation of over 1 billion, and despite what might appear to be large numbers of foreigners travelling into China, actually seeing them outside of specific ‘foreigner’ areas is quite rare. And of course, some areas of China ooze with a beau-ty and charm reminiscent of romantic, sublime poetry. Waterfalls tumbling over immense cliffs, and water so clear you can see right through it. And then there are the more personal cityscapes. Streets littered with small shops selling snacks and trinkets, and almost every 500 yards the unmistakably sign of a typical cigarette ven-dor. In Hangzhou a leisurely stroll for thirty minutes will guarantee the appearance of a small temple of shrine, after which you can pop into any one of the many dingy, but delicious, restaurants available. But these things do seem to be in decline. New devel-opment zones are a confusing mix between the modern infrastructure and the existing traditions of locals. Tran-

sient communities are large, especially around Beijing, and the constant struggle for new and better career op-portunities, especially in the big cities of Beijing, Shang-hai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, seem to be a constant source of disappointment for newly graduated students. “I can find a job,” they say, “but it doesn’t pay enough to live a suitable life”. The struggle to balance the tradi-tions of old and the development and lifestyle of new are constantly in a battle of wills and won’ts. The temples are being knocked down and replaced by new shopping malls; the old, dingy restaurants are being replaced by nicer, more expensive ones, which don’t cater to the same palette or wallet. China is most definitely chang-ing very quickly. Whilst I have not personally felt any resentment towards myself, I have had one experience whilst sat in a taxi which could have changed my mind regarding China’s openness and hospitality towards foreigners. During one quite long trip in Chengdu, I recall a conversation I had with a short, strange taxi driver. I remember that the taxi smelled horribly of alcohol and a largely emp-ty bottle of Chinese wine lay askew in the tray between the seats. It wasn’t this that gave away how intoxicated the driver was though, it was the gradually increasing swerving of the taxi from left to right as the driver would break into a dialogue with me about foreigners and their Chinese speaking ability. You see, most people from outside of China, when they think of Chinese, think of Mandarin, but mandarin is only one of so many different dialects in China. In Si-chuan they mainly speak the creatively named Sichuan dialect, and it is not 100% intelligible with Mandarin. Of course, as a foreigner who studied at a Chinese Univer-sity, I was learning Mandarin. The taxi driver brought this up.

Wireless technology has revolutionized the way we do things. No longer do we have to hook our computers up to a modem, no longer do we rely on only our landlines, and no longer are we restrained by the availability of wires, cables and others connection orientated appliances. No, now we can run everything whilst we’re on the move. Speakers are no exception to this. As music becomes more widely available – especially in digital format – our ability to play that music in more and more situations becomes important. Whilst wired or conventional speakers might be helpful for at home, wireless speakers let you take that inside au-dio fidelity and put it anywhere you want. However, speakers are not always equal. Whilst one pair of speakers might boast an award for being the loudest portable Bluetooth speakers you have ever heard, another might sound more comparable to a mouse squeal. One pair might be the nicest looking Bluetooth speakers you have ever encoun-tered, but then when you turn them on, you are left asking if these really are the high volume speakers you spent your hard earned cash on. What I want to do here is make sure that you can answer the question of what is the loudest possible speaker, so when it comes to shopping for some – either online or in store – you’re equipped with enough information to make the best possible decisionDifferent types of loud wireless speakersThere are several different types of loud portable speakers which I have largely separated based on functionality and specification. Here, we will run through what types of speaker you can choose between and why you might pick one over another. The Rugged RockThe Rugged Rock gets its name because it can go anywhere. Basically, when you buy one of these guys, it’s like investing in another piece for your toolkit. Depending on what quality you buy, they can range from being able to with-stand a splash of water, to having a full sized car run over them. What you want to make sure you look for is the IP rating; anything over IPX7 is going to stand up to most of what you are going to be able to throw at it, whilst IPX3 probably shouldn’t be sent swimming.If you’re using your speakers in less secure situations, then this is likely go-ing to be the model you want. Also, if you fancy taking your speakers into the pool with you, you can always do that with a set which have an IP rating of 7 or above – these have actually been dubbed ‘floating speakers’ due to their ability to, you guessed it, float. The Bombastic Party Goer[Continued]

Speakers or Squeakers: A rundown of the loud-est Bluetooth speakers available

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Thank you for your consideration

RAW Bailey

Also avaliable at

Robaili.com

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