Time after time, I’ve watched owners of reputable, high-quality businesses walk away from their hard-earned reputations and present themselves as something other than what they are. I’m not talking about deliberate deception with intent to defraud. At the risk of sounding like an amateur psychologist, it really sounds more like a problem with self-esteem. It’s … Read more
Writing for translation requires different thinking and approaches than writing for American audiences. There are two primary reasons for this. Writing for translation involves language The first of these is probably obvious, in that there’s a difference in language involved, and American English and other languages don’t always translate cleanly and clearly. In fact, American … Read more
Mark Twain’s take on prevarication remains as accurate today as when he penned it: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” We live in an age in which we’re overwhelmed by information, and a large share of what we consume is in the form of statistics. A key reason for that … Read more
“I hate staring at that empty screen and that #%#^$% blinking cursor. I know exactly what I want to say, but I can’t get started.” No matter who you work for and no matter what your role may be, your job probably involves some writing. If you’ve faced times when the right words wouldn’t come, … Read more
White paper bullet points can serve many functions, but they’re often misused by people who misunderstand their roles … or who are unaware of how the conscious mind perceives them. That’s especially important in documents such as white papers intended to be viewed as a trusted source of information. Misunderstandings about bullet points in any … Read more
Do you think it’s wrong to ask questions in the headlines of your ads and other marketing materials? Years back, I had a boss who loathed questions. Bring him an ad headline with a question, and he’d reject it instantly, sputtering, “But what if the reader says no?” I’ve encountered many people like him who … Read more
It might surprise you to learn you have an emotional response to numbers. What might surprise you even more is learning your reaction is probably rooted in ancient attempts to understand and predict the universe. Numerology is the study of the characteristics of numbers. Numerologists believe everything in the universe can be reduced to or … Read more
White paper graphic design advice is valuable not only for the professional graphic designers who are asked to design white papers, but for the people who write papers, so they can structure them in ways that cooperate with design practices. Whether you’re a graphic designer or just want to better understand how white papers should … Read more
I’d like to see more organizations put as much work into implementing their mission statements as they do in drafting them. Mission statements, vision maps, shared goals, value statements and all their frame-worthy cousins fascinate me, though I confess it’s in a cynical way. Everyone has them, but I’m not sure why. I suspect it’s … Read more
Most companies constantly seek new market segments as potential customers for their products or services. Rarely do they consider one that can be surprisingly cost-effective: those who stopped doing business with you. Focusing on the customers who used to do business with you offers a great opportunity to grow your business and can improve your … Read more