A guide to snowshoveling

It is brief, unedited and not nearly done. It's something I was scribbling down while teacher was going on about the area of a triangle. Who in my grade doesn't know the area of a triangle? anyways, here goes:

A guide to snowshoveling


A lot of people think snowshoevling is simple, easy. Well...it can be if you know how to do it.

First off, you need to decide. Do you want a team of kids? Or are you just going to do it on your own? If you do it on your own, you will have to put in much more effort, the work will be harder, you will not be able to take on as many jobs, although you won't have to split the money you earn. If you have a team of kids you will put in less effort, take on more jobs, But you will have to share your earnings. You decide.

Appearence

You want to appear experienced to the costumer. One time, a teenager came to my door and simply pointed to his shovel. You won't get too many costumers by doing that.
If you want to look proffesional you are going to have to know what to say. If you stutter or talk very quietly it will appear to the costumer that you have none or little experience. You should have something simple and quick to say. For instance: "Would you like us to shovel your driveway? and then, when they ask you how much, be prepared to say your price for EVERYTHING. "The driveway is 5 dollars but the front and back porch as well as the walkway are another 3$ ."

Equipment
You do not need a very expensive shovel. A simple but sturdy plastic one will do. Large ones are better for driveways and are much stronger while smaller ones are better for edges and smaller areas such as porches, walkways, ect.


Money and Prices

It is MUCH easier to have one price for everything than to have a long speech listing a different price for every section. One of the most difficult challenges is deciding your price. More costumers will, of course take a lower price allowing you too take on more jobs. Although, if you have a high price you will be able to make a lot ofmoney in one spot.
I've seen prices anywhere from $1.50 to $20.00 although most prices are between $5.00 and $10.00 or below. My price is 5$ for everything; driveway, front and back porch, and walkway . Although if they havesomething beside the listed sections,it is an extra dollar. Such as top of cars, small sheds, ect. But that's just me. Depending on your area and driveway sizes a proper price can vary.

Like I said, unfished, unedited. This is my first draft.
I would be very gratefull for any advice/critique since I am very new to this.

Nicole

whoops! Sorry about the double post! I submitted it but then went back to preview it a second later..I think I might ahve submitted it again.
Sorry!
AT least now I know for the future..

Not a problem, Nikki.





EDIT:


First off all, in the post below, you mention not having very good typing skills. I urge you not to worry too much over it. Practice makes perfect, after all. Three years ago, I had to hunt-and-peck my way around a keyboard. My spelling errors flooded the page in biblical proportions and I made progress like a fly stuck in molasses. The main thing is that you have the patience to keep at it and keep practicing, even when you'd rather ignore it. There are some pretty handy typing programs out there [Mavis Bacon, for instance] that might give you some extra help in this arena. As for the editing and spellcheck, most word documents now will automatically underline and point out your mistakes. Again, it's just a matter of practice on knowing how to best go about fixing them. You might want to take a look at some of the YWS Articles, from which you might be able to glean a few helpful tips. ^_^

I'll be glad to edit this piece for you, to give you an idea of how best to go about it on your own. My comments are in dark blue, my corrections in light blue.


. . .

A Guide to Snow Shoveling


A lot of people think that snow [Space it out, 'snow shoveling' is two words] shoveling is simple, easy. Well...[You want to introduce the opposite side of the coin. You've told us that we're mistaken in our assumption, so now you have to tell us why. For instance...] it's not always as easy as people tend to think, but it can be if you know how to do it properly.

First off, you need to decide: do you want a team of kids[s]?[/s], or are you just going to do it on your own? If you do it on your own, you will have to put in much more effort, the work will be [s]harder[/s] more difficult, you will not be able to take on as many jobs[s],[/s]. Then again, [s]although[/s] you won't have to split the money you earn. If you have a team of kids you will put in less effort, take on more jobs, but you will have to share your earnings. You should decide what's best for you.

Appearence

You want to appear experienced to the costumer. One time, a teenager came to my door and simply pointed to his shovel. You won't get too many costumers by doing that.

If you want to look proffesional you are going to have to know what to say. If you stutter or talk very quietly it will appear to the costumer that you have no[s]ne[/s] or little experience. You should have something simple and quick [s]to say[/s] prepared beforehand. For instance: "Would you like us to shovel your driveway?" and then, when they ask you how much the service would cost, be prepared to [s]say [/s] give your price for [s]EVERYTHING[/s] everything [Try not to capitalize whole words; they tend to detract]. "The driveway is $5.00 [s]dollars[/s] but the front and back porches as well as the walkway are another $3.00 [s]$[/s] each[?]."

Equipment

You do not need a very expensive shovel. A simple but sturdy plastic one will do. Large ones are much stronger and better for driveways, [s]and are much stronger[/s] while smaller ones are better for edges and smaller areas such as porches, walkways, [s]ect[/s] [You'll want to write it out:] et cetera.


Money and Prices

It is [s]MUCH[/s] much easier to have one price for everything than to have a long speech listing a different price for [s]every[/s] each section. One of the most difficult challenges is deciding your price. More costumers will, of course, take a lower price, which allows [s]allowing[/s] you, in turn, [s]too[/s] to take on more jobs. [s]Although[/s] However, if you have a higher price, you will be able to make a lot [s]of[/s] more money in one spot.

I've seen prices anywhere from $1.50 to $20.00, although most prices are between $5.00 and $10.00 or below. My price is $5[s]$[/s] for everything: driveway, front and back porches, and walkway. [s]Although[/s] If the customer [s]they have[/s] has something to be shoveled besides the sections listed [s]sections[/s] - tops of cars, small sheds, et cetera -, it is an extra dollar. [s]Such as top of cars, small sheds, ect.[/s] But that's just me. [s]Depending upon your area and driveway sizes a proper price can vary.[/s] [I would do away with this whole last line - it feels redundant, you've already told us that we can chose whichever price we like.]

--

All in all, a nice, little, informative piece. If I had one major suggestion about the article itself, it would be that you add a more substantial ending. Here, you open well and you tell us all about snow shoveling for profit, but you don't close it up well. And like a wound without suture, the piece suffers for it. Try to wrap it up a bit more substantially, and you should be good. ^_^

[Also, if you feel that you'd like to preface your piece with an explanation or the like, you might want to put it in italics or otherwise separate it from the text so that it doesn't blend in with the piece itself.]

Nice work overall, Nikki, and good luck with the typing.

For people reading this and thinking "Why on earth are there so many errors?" I didn't realy understand how to edit and spellcheck my own work so I ended up having 2 seperate copies. The (mostly) edited version is on the locked page.
Why are there so many errors in the first place? I have bad typing skills.VERY bad. When an idea pops into my head I tend to type it down real fast and not bother to go over or edit it. I'm working on that.
Nicole

thank you!

Nikki