While reading a book about the history of the New Yorker magazine (About Town by Ben Yagoda), I encountered an interesting bit of 1930s correspondence between the magazine’s founding editor, Harold Ross, and author E.B. White. Perhaps best known today as the author of Charlotte’s Web, White objected to the magazine’s acceptance of an ad … Read more
Part of human nature is wanting to be liked. Deep within each of us is that child who wanted the other kids on the playground to play with us, the middle-schooler who desperately wanted to be seen as “cool” by his or her peers, and the young adult who hoped to be appealing to prospective … Read more
I’ve done work for companies that have their own lexicons — even style guides spelling out exactly how things should be worded. For example, I used to do a lot of work for some divisions of Amoco Oil (since absorbed by BP). Among the no-nos in their style guide was that you couldn’t refer … Read more
As you’d expect, the Indiana School Boards Association is an advocate for schools, so it’s no surprise that the Summer 2015 issue of their Journal included an exhortation from the group’s president to get members fired up. But you’ll probably be surprised that she was calling for the group to “lead the fight for pubic … Read more
In Louisiana, they call it lagniappe. It’s a wonderful word describing those unexpected little extras we receive now and again. At the Indianapolis B2B Marketers October panel discussion, a restaurant’s server delivered some lagniappe that doubled as an excellent lesson for marketers. Following a delicious lunch at the downtown Ruth’s Chris, the panelists engaged … Read more
For many years, I produced a regular newsletter for a public library. While the library was a first-rate facility, one of the challenges it presented was rivalries between the many departments. The circulation director thought the youth services department received too much coverage, and youth services thought there were too many articles about reference services, … Read more
Every time I attend a conference, I’m reminded of one of my many PowerPoint peeves. It’s not my biggest peeve (which is the presenter who subjects you to copy-heavy slide after copy-heavy slide, and makes it worse by assuming that you’re illiterate, so he reads every word to you), but it comes close. No, the … Read more
Marketers frequently place maps on websites and other communications materials to indicate the locations of businesses and events. That’s a good thing for the visual learners in the crowd. But sometimes those same marketers shoot themselves in the foot by ignoring the conventions that have become common in mapmaking. For example, professional mapmakers indicate bodies … Read more
One of the most powerful forms of legal protection is also one of the easiest to obtain. Under federal copyright law, you can declare your ownership of an article, blog, website, or similar creation simply by affixing a legal copyright notice to it. (Mandatory legal disclosure: I am not an attorney, nor have I played … Read more
Companies try to handle their marketing communications needs in-house for many reasons. Sometimes, budget is the primary driver, but more often, there’s a belief that nobody in the outside world could ever understand the company as well as its employees. Actually, that’s exactly why an outsider offers you a significant advantage. You see, … Read more