Identify your topic. Your topic may have been assigned to you or you may have to pick it yourself. Determine how specific your essay is supposed to be; you may need to narrow down a broad topic such as "Global Marketing." Global marketing essays may explore, for example, how language barriers can affect marketing campaigns in foreign countries or the advantages of advertising in foreign markets, or your paper could analyze the effectiveness of one particular company's global marketing strategy. If you are required to pick your own topic, make sure there is plenty of information on the subject, which will make your research and writing go more smoothly.
Acquire books on your topic, or research your topic on the Internet if Internet resources are considered acceptable by whomever is receiving your essay.
Note areas of interest that apply to your topic, the depth and breadth of information at your disposal regarding these areas, and where in your research material the information was found so you can easily return to it. If writing a paper on the effectiveness of a particular marketing strategy, be sure to record concrete data, such as the increase in sales figures after the campaign was introduced or the additional percentage in market share attributable to the campaign. Including this information will make your essay more informative and specific.
Use the information discovered in your research to form a thesis. A thesis is the statement your essay will prove, so be sure to pick a statement strongly supported by the information you found. A thesis needs to be specific and supportable -- for example, "Inaccurate translations in marketing campaigns lead to lower international sales of the advertised products."
Identify key points that seem to refute your thesis, and 3-4 points that strongly support your thesis. Depending on the length of your essay, you may need to identify more points that support your thesis. If you are writing a broad overview rather than supporting a specific thesis, write down several sub-topics to which you will be able to devote at least a paragraph, such as "differences between domestic and global marketing," "advantages of global marketing," or "strategies for transitioning a company or product from domestic to global marketing."
Briefly outline how you will disprove or dismiss as invalid each point you identified as potentially negating your thesis. A strong essay anticipates possible arguments and defuses them. For example, a great essay on the advantages of global marketing will not ignore the advantages of domestic marketing or the potential disadvantages of marketing globally, but rather will explain why global marketing is preferable despite these seeming points against it.
For each supporting point, outline how you will use it to bolster your argument in support of your thesis. Arrange these points in order so that the strongest point is last, the second strongest point is first and the weaker points are in the middle.
Write an introductory paragraph that briefly introduces your topic, states your thesis and outlines your arguments. Some professors or teachers will prefer an introduction that begins broadly -- "Global Marketing is defined as..." -- before flowing smoothly into your topic. Other professors and teachers may prefer that you introduce your thesis right away -- "Company X increased its global market share by 5 percent over the past three years, and this is primarily due to implementation of the following strategies..." Remember that you are writing for a specific audience and a good mark depends on impressing this audience.
Devote at least a paragraph to demonstrating the inaccuracy of each potential argument against your thesis. Each point supporting your thesis should also get at least a paragraph of your essay body.
Write a conclusion that summarizes your arguments and restates your thesis as the only possible conclusion to draw from the evidence.
Read your essay over to ensure that your arguments are sound and presented in an effective order. Make certain that your language is precise and easy to understand. Make changes if necessary.
Read your essay over again to check for spelling or grammatical errors. Make corrections if necessary.
Ensure that all the information you used from your research is properly cited, according to the format preferred by the recipient of the essay.