What is a brochure? An ad? A radio commercial? A website? I’ll give you 5 points if you said they’re all marketing communications channels. But they’re also something more important. You can’t be everywhere your prospective customers are. So you develop materials such as ads and brochures to stand in when you can’t. In essence, … Read more
Most people who insert foreign-language phrases and expressions into their materials do so because it makes them appear to be intelligent and sophisticated, n’est-ce pas? That is, it does unless they misspell the phrase or don’t really understand what it means. A particularly common error involves using the marvelous French word “voilà” (“behold” or “there … Read more
Grammar and syntax can be funny things. You can have two sentences that appear to be identical, aside from some subtle switches in word order, but they may mean very different things. Take this sentence: “Towering above the company’s production facility, our technician inspected the smokestack.” Or this one: “Born in Schenectady, the inventor’s first … Read more
Because I write for a living, many people assume that I’m an expert on the subject of grammar. Some go so far as to consider me a grammarian. Others assume that I must have been an English major back in college. Yes, I wrangle with grammar every day, but I’m no expert. And no, I … Read more
Modern English is a flexible language, and it’s becoming more so with each passing year. Today’s acceptable grammar is significantly more casual than the usage I learned as the frequent target of my sophomore English teacher’s red pen. I’ve relaxed my standards with the times, but there are a few places where I believe it … Read more
Many words that are similar carry very different meanings, but that doesn’t stop people from misusing them. Generally, they’ll accept a correction in the intended spirit, but that isn’t always the case. I remember one situation in which a client was so convinced that his misunderstanding was actually correct that I lost his business. He … Read more
Writers who are unfamiliar with a word shouldn’t use it … or should check with someone who knows it before they include it in a story. Ideally, an editor will spot a misuse and intervene. But neither of those things happened in a restaurant review in the March 22 edition of Nuvo, an Indianapolis newsweekly. … Read more
You’ve heard of the power of positive thinking, and may have been taught to “put on a happy face,” no matter what the situation. That’s why when I reference something that could be perceived as negative in copy, many clients are quick to request its replacement by something wearing a bigger smile. Happy talk isn’t … Read more
Long ago, I learned that there are two timeless, foolproof secrets to success. The first is to never share everything you know.
If you’re not sure why your company isn’t performing as well as it should, the answer may be closer than you think. Your customers may have the insight you need to figure out what you’re doing well and what you need to improve. Richard Whiteley’s excellent book, The Customer-Driven Company, cites many successful companies that … Read more