The marketing assistant shook her head and sneered, “You just can’t be serious.” She saw the puzzlement in my eyes, and continued. “This copy is supposed to be aimed at the C-suite.” Whatever message her critique was supposed to convey wasn’t registering, and her frustration quickly became evident. “You know, it’s for corporate leaders. It … Read more
If your organization does business in the growing global marketplace, there may be times when you need to communicate with people in languages other than English. While it’s tempting to simply translate your existing materials, that may not be the most effective approach. That’s because writing for translation requires different thinking and approaches than writing … Read more
Entrepreneurs are amazingly brave people. No matter how they may publicly shy away from comments like that, they’re well aware of how much courage it takes to walk away from someone’s payroll and create or grow a business. But despite their courage, many entrepreneurs become downright timid when it comes to marketing. Specifically, these bold … Read more
He was a successful engineer with a nagging problem. It haunted him during his commute, in the shower, and when his golden retriever woke him up at 3:00 a.m. for a quick trip outside. Never was it far from his thoughts. It involved a process that he knew could be improved. He had a hunch … Read more
The new client and I were discussing the content he wanted me to produce. After discussing his general objectives and some thoughts about design, he handed me a brochure and said, “Everything you’ll need is in here.” Even a quick skim told me that it was an excellent, well-written brochure. The content was spot-on, and … Read more
I spend a lot of time performing research for projects, and I’ve discovered that many of the companies that have the best information do the worst job of presenting it. They have the expertise, but it’s clear that the wrong people are responsible for sharing what they know. Now, it’s not really their fault. Each … Read more
The contest wasn’t a big deal, but I thought the prize package was worth a few minutes of my time. So I obeyed the publication’s instructions and visited the website. “We’re sorry! Our new site is under construction!” What? Maybe I had an outdated publication. But no, it was dated for this week. The … Read more
Pardon me if I sound like a broken record, but I’m about to climb up on my soapbox, so don’t touch that dial! If that sentence made sense, you probably need to adjust the way you talk with colleagues and customers. If it didn’t make sense, you’re the reason why. As with nearly every other … Read more
Back when you were in elementary school, your teacher worked hard to help you understand a concept called homophones. If you’re like most people, homophones bedeviled you then, and they probably still trip you up now and again. What are homophones? They’re those words that sound the same, even though they have very different meanings … Read more
I have overwhelming respect (and more than a little sympathy) for English teachers. But I do have to say they manage to make being an effective writer more difficult than it should be. Now, I’m not referring to all English teachers. Anyone who’s dedicated their adult lives to convincing bored adolescents to fall in love … Read more