“It’s just going on social media, so the usual rules don’t apply, right?” Planning to post a big announcement about his company, he thought there was no need be concerned with grammar and the like. My answer? No, you don’t have to worry about those things … unless you hope to be taken seriously. As […]
I was surprised to see a favorite non-profit had committed an illegal act. On the third page of a recent newsletter, they reprinted an item from Reader’s Digest. It was germane to their mission, and they kindly included a credit line. Still, they broke the law. Which law? Copyright law. Unless they formally obtained permission from […]
When presenting workshops on writing more effectively, I always tell attendees the most important advice I can offer is to eschew obfuscation. If you’re scratching your head, don’t feel bad. The two words are unfamiliar to most people. “Eschew” is a verb that means deliberately avoiding something or some act. If you’re allergic to okra, […]
Why would you need to turn to a professional white paper writer when you consider yourself to be a good writer? There are many advantages to tapping into the expertise of a professional, but I’ve found these five reasons to be particularly beneficial. 1. A professional white paper writer makes better use of your time […]
Bursting with pride, the nursing home’s management team bought a half-page newspaper ad proclaiming “Deficiency-Free State Survey” in giant letters. And I’m willing to wager their message was completely lost upon the people they hoped to impress. I knew why they were proud, but that’s only because I’ve done work with the senior care industry. […]
If I asked you to name the single most powerful word in marketing, which word would you choose? Many people claim it’s “free,” while others insist on “sex” or something similarly salacious. But none of those answers is correct. The most powerful word is one of the most common and simple words in English, and […]
Wondering what you’ll do if you can’t come up with a decent topic for a particular day’s blog post? Prepare in advance by developing some “evergreen” posts. What do I mean by an evergreen post? It’s simply a post that provides general information, will always be appropriate for the audience, and isn’t time-sensitive. If you’re […]
I’ll be the first to admit that the ampersand (that familiar little “&” mark) can be handy now and then. But it’s one of the most-misused tools in the punctuation toolbox. The ampersand is a graphic replacement for the word “and.” Used properly in graphic design, it can even be a thing of beauty — […]
Companies and organizations devote an amazing amount of time to agonizing over what their websites should look like. They review a host of different design approaches and spend hours trying to determine exactly how each page should function. Then they slap some content in place. What kind of content? “Take that stuff from our last […]
We’d have a tough time surviving without quotation marks. A famous writer once observed, “Quotation marks allow us to identify what someone actually says, as opposed to simple statements being made by the writer.” Okay, I’m that writer, but the quote illustrates one of the primary roles of quotation marks. The other is to denote […]
