Online Words Archives - Page 11 of 15

USING SIMPLE EXAMPLES TO CONVEY COMPLEX CONCEPTS

May 14, 2014 by Scott Flood

There are times when writers need to convey complex, difficult concepts to audiences that may not have the same level of knowledge as the organization that is sending the message. A simple solution that works wonders in those situations is the use of analogies, similes, and metaphors. When you can distill something complicated into something … Read more

A BULLET POINT IS ONLY A STARTING POINT

April 2, 2014 by Scott Flood

When creating a website, a brochure, or an ad, many people believe that the best approach is to be as simple and straightforward as possible. And, for many of those people, being simple and straightforward means using brief bullet points instead of sentences and paragraphs.

“The only thing that matters is the facts” they say. “Nobody has time for fluff” they insist. “All anyone cares about is the down and dirty” they declare. “We’re far too serious and too busy for anything else,” they aver. “People make decisions by using facts,” they assert.

NEGLECTING THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR WEBSITE?

March 12, 2014 by Scott Flood

When it comes time to develop a new website, companies and organizations spend a lot of time agonizing over what the site should be like. They consider all sorts of different designs and spend hours trying to get the functionality exactly where they want it. They make list after list of possible pages.

And then, they just slap some content in place.

HOW MANY REWRITES ARE NEEDED?

February 19, 2014 by Scott Flood

Of all the lessons I learned in my college days — at least of the ones I’ll admit to in a public post — one of the most important was the value of rewriting. A first draft is just that — the first shot at getting everything organized on the paper (or onscreen). Rewriting gives you the opportunity to refine and improve what you’ve done.

Sometimes, people ask how many times they should rewrite something, and my answer is always the same: however many times it needs. That’s not a flip answer. At times, one rewrite is enough to make something work, while other words might need to be trimmed and polished a dozen times.

FAQS ARE AN AMAZING TOOL: PART TWO

November 20, 2013 by Scott Flood

In my last post, I mentioned the amazing power of frequently asked question pages or documents. As I noted, these simple, easy-to-create tools can strengthen your sales efforts, overcome resistance, minimize misunderstandings, and boost customer satisfaction.

However, FAQs won’t do any of those things effectively unless they’re completely candid and honest. An FAQ isn’t the place to duck tough subjects or hide behind weasel wording. That’s because your customers and prospects are much better at spotting that kind of stuff than you realize.

FAQS ARE AN AMAZING TOOL: PART ONE

November 13, 2013 by Scott Flood

I’m not sure who first created a frequently asked questions document or page, but I hope I get the opportunity to thank her someday. (And yes, I’m pretty confident that it was a “her,” given the innate male reluctance to pose questions.)

For marketers and other communicators, the FAQ is one of the most powerful tools you can use. It can strengthen your sales efforts, overcome resistance, minimize misunderstandings, and boost customer satisfaction.

AUTOMATIC RESPONSES AREN’T ALWAYS SOUND

October 30, 2013 by Scott Flood

I’ve railed before about automated email marketing campaigns that lack common sense. For example, when I buy products from a particular office supply store, it tries to resell me the identical product a couple months later with the message that it’s time to refill my order. No, I don’t need another shredder, thanks.

Just as annoying are the companies that send emails asking you to complete reviews of your recent purchases. A case in point was the email I received today from a major hardware retailer. While working on a home repair a few days ago, I needed to replace some rusty bolts, washers, and nuts, so I stopped in and bought a few new ones. I swiped my customer loyalty card when I made the purchase.

USE SINGLE OR DOUBLE QUOTES?

September 18, 2013 by Scott Flood

I don’t know whether to blame the Internet for something I’ve been seeing more of lately: the use of single quotation marks (‘) where double quotes (“) should be used.

Many issues related to punctuation are a matter of style, syntax, or personal preference. But the rules on quotation marks are pretty clear-cut.

DOES YOUR BUSINESS REALLY NEED SEO?

July 31, 2013 by Scott Flood

As search engines have become the fastest and easiest way to gather information, many companies have invested a fortune in trying to be one of the first listings searchers see. Research supports the concept, noting that people are far more likely to click on listings near the top left-hand portion of the screen, which just happens to be where most search engines display them.

With that boom in search engines has come a boomlet of search-engine optimization (SEO) consultants. These IT wizards study how the search engines work and then retool websites to make them more attractive. Instead of focusing on the humans who read the information on the sites, they target the crawlers and spiders that lay the groundwork for search engines.

CHOOSING CREATIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS, STEP 4: CHECK REFERENCES

June 5, 2013 by Scott Flood

This is another in a seven-post series on how to choose the right creative service provider (writer, designer, photographer, etc.) for your business or organization. This advice is based on what I’ve seen companies do the wrong way over the years. Hope you enjoy and find it useful!

Will you be happy with the supplier’s work? That’s the question that many clients ask, and it’s closely related to the one they should be asking — will you be happy with the working relationship?