Thursday, February 22, 2007

How To Start An Abstracting Service In Houston

If you like reading and writing and have special affinity for various subjects related to technology, science, medicine, etc., you may find setting up an abstracting business in Houston very appealing. As an abstractor, your main job will be to read the content (as per the client’s specifications) in journals, internet, books, and magazines and distil the wisdom into a brief synopsis, not more than 10-15 sentences. Your client will use this synopsis as a database for storage and retrieval. In a few cases, the articles instead to being condensed into a synopsis are made into an index form or both. In the process of indexing, an abstractor creates keyword lists on the basis of the given articles or selects particular terms from a vocabulary list in such a way that a computer can locate specific articles quickly.

Select the Right Medium:

The most preferable mode to start your abstracting job is through the online medium, as the offline mode requires significant establishment costs. You may choose a freelancing agent rather than regular persons for the job. Above all, check PayPal accounts regularly to keep a track of the lost commission. If the loss is huge, select an alternative medium.

Identify Your Interest Area:

The market for abstracting is vast in Houston. You can think of getting into fashion abstracting, commercial or technical abstracting, or editorial abstracting. The choices are unlimited; choose a field that appeals to you the most. Do not lay your eggs in too many baskets, because it is abstracting is an extremely creative field and needs complete application of mind. Hence, choose a particular area and garner expertise there. Depending on that you can focus on the target groups. After you have found out your market, you can survey the market to study how much abstracting services cost in your area. Set a competitive cost for your services based in your findings. Do not hesitate to break the market by selling your services at cheap rates initially.

Market Your Skills Effectively:

Promote yourself by creating your own website and place good content on it. Volunteer to make abstracts for people you know. Never mind if you are not paid initially; they will pay you once they come to know how good you are at the job.

If you are unable to find the time to develop your web page, or do not want to make such an investment in the beginning itself, you can simply register yourself with sites that offer jobs to freelancers. Always give your client more than what he has paid for. Try to develop customized abstracts for him and share with him your previous works. While developing an abstract, always remember what purpose abstracting serves, and focus on the keyword theory to get the best results.
If you like reading and writing and have special affinity for various subjects related to technology, science, medicine, etc., you may find setting up an abstracting business in Houston very appealing. As an abstractor, your main job will be to read the content (as per the client’s specifications) in journals, internet, books, and magazines and distil the wisdom into a brief synopsis, not more than 10-15 sentences. Your client will use this synopsis as a database for storage and retrieval. In a few cases, the articles instead to being condensed into a synopsis are made into an index form or both. In the process of indexing, an abstractor creates keyword lists on the basis of the given articles or selects particular terms from a vocabulary list in such a way that a computer can locate specific articles quickly.

Select the Right Medium:

The most preferable mode to start your abstracting job is through the online medium, as the offline mode requires significant establishment costs. You may choose a freelancing agent rather than regular persons for the job. Above all, check PayPal accounts regularly to keep a track of the lost commission. If the loss is huge, select an alternative medium.

Identify Your Interest Area:

The market for abstracting is vast in Houston. You can think of getting into fashion abstracting, commercial or technical abstracting, or editorial abstracting. The choices are unlimited; choose a field that appeals to you the most. Do not lay your eggs in too many baskets, because it is abstracting is an extremely creative field and needs complete application of mind. Hence, choose a particular area and garner expertise there. Depending on that you can focus on the target groups. After you have found out your market, you can survey the market to study how much abstracting services cost in your area. Set a competitive cost for your services based in your findings. Do not hesitate to break the market by selling your services at cheap rates initially.

Market Your Skills Effectively:

Promote yourself by creating your own website and place good content on it. Volunteer to make abstracts for people you know. Never mind if you are not paid initially; they will pay you once they come to know how good you are at the job.

If you are unable to find the time to develop your web page, or do not want to make such an investment in the beginning itself, you can simply register yourself with sites that offer jobs to freelancers. Always give your client more than what he has paid for. Try to develop customized abstracts for him and share with him your previous works. While developing an abstract, always remember what purpose abstracting serves, and focus on the keyword theory to get the best results.