Social Networking Newbie!

The shoemaker’s kids have been going barefoot as I wasn’t able to get in to post here for quite some time though busy writing projects for others! I’ve been enmeshed lately in exploring and learning the power of social networking–specifically making some incredible connections via Facebook and putting a toe in the Twitterworld! The free Tweetdeck software has been a nice find, though! Regardless where you are located, check to see if there are Tweetups in your area. These free gatherings that allow those of us who connect on the Web to actually meet each other are a fabulous way to meet people you’ve already connected with electronically but to meet lots of others you might not have otherwise known about. Thanks to the local Tweetup organizers Scott Nicholson and Kevin Wilson for their efforts–if you want to put one together in YOUR city you might want to consider what they did as they made name tags for those of us who RSVPd in advance that had our little photo from Twitter  plus our @Twitter name. A bit like a high school reunion! I’ve also found some people who have been off my radar for decades on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter and now we can tweet away and build new connections. With the turbulent times posing challenges for so many–this is a great way to humanize the Web whether as a business-building tool or just for some new friends and connections! While my experience with it is primitive compared to many others, I’ve enjoyed “paying it forward” a bit and getting some other associates and friends a bit of help to get started with building an online presence for themselves…

The New Year… Time to Revisit and Refresh Your Message?

This is a bit of an extended musing on why the end of the year is so full of potential for businesses to revisit and refresh…

The holidays are abuzz with activity, much of it focused around commercial enterprise while it still is regarded by many as the one time each year they relax their boundaries a bit and reach out to others a bit more… Or, perhaps they contact someone who they feel a connection with from a business or personal contact yet it’s started to fade away a bit. Some might call a little contact under such circumstances as sort of a “ping” or follow-up—a gentle prompt. Regardless, it’s a grand time to reconnect by refreshing and renewing as networking with others is where many of us find satisfaction, knowledge, and sometimes even new business. With that in mind, perhaps the close of the year is a perfect time to take a look at how our businesses communicate… not just the means or media, but the quality of the message. Are the messages getting stale? If you truly do a “challenge review” of your brochures, Web content, prospecting letters, collateral materials, and advertising can you truly say that it would intrigue you if you were your own prospect? We usually remember to put up the lights, take down the lights, send out a greeting card. We sometimes forget to look closely at how our businesses are communicating to our prospects and existing clients and whether it really is in harmony with our business plans (which we should also be revisiting and updating often!).

The Geography Issue—Is it Clear Where You Are?

If your business has a product or service that would appeal to a more-extended area either because you can ship it or deliver it via the Web, are you sure that your materials are written in such a way that they would make sense to someone from outside the area and that you’ve provided enough information for them to contact you if they happen to see it while just visiting the area? This might be as simple as putting the city name in your ads. Even in the burgeoning Boise Metro area, where advertising may cover not only Boise but go to Meridian, Eagle, Kuna, Star, Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton, and beyond—it’s important to not assume that everyone knows where your street is especially if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront they’ll need to visit. Even in an ad just limited to Boise, merely having your street name and address often isn’t enough. Just giving the name of the office or retail complex isn’t enough, such as Black Eagle Center. Most of us are creatures of habit and prowl our own neighborhoods and the pathways we’ve established to go to the places that we already know–yet, as new business develop, often on the outskirts or farther out than the original five-mile or so radius from which many businesses draw, you may need to help your prospective client find you. Have a map on your Website, add information such as “on the northeast corner of XX and XXX.” If you’re going to refer to your location as next to another business, make sure 1) it’s a business that will reflect well on yours and 2) that you get their name right! Sounds simple, but it’s amazing how often it seems one business butchers the name of their neighbor’s business. At the end of the day, it doesn’t end up reflecting well on either of you!

Seek Some Objective Input

If you have a professional associate who does not work with you, consider asking him or her to give you some 100% honest and objective input after looking at your Website or brochures or other materials. It might be a great time to freshen up the message or clarify or even fix typos or inconsistencies and other mechanical issues with the content.

 

New Year, New Message?

The closing of one year and embarking on another is perhaps a perfect time to reevaluate and revisit with a positive intent for feeling more in alignment with our own messages. Think about the advertising that appeals to you and words that resonate or capture your attention. Consider adding aspects of that to your own materials as appropriate. Hire a professional to help you either write it or at least edit and proof for you letting them know clearly what your intended result is… and perhaps 2008 will bring mo’ betta business and exciting new potential. Happy New Year!

The power of great language resources and consistent style…

Just some quick thoughts about the balancing act between expressing your voice in your business (and even personal) communications yet still needing to recognize that there are grammar, punctuation, and style rules to follow AND that they’re worth following! While many people seem to feel that following rules smacks of grade school and may even inhibit their style, the fact of the matter is that people DO notice errors and inconsistencies, even if just on a visceral level. I’ve listed some of my favorite print resources on the www.connotation.biz Website, with the awesome Gregg Reference Manual 10th Edition being the “must have,” go-to resource… Then, ensure that you have a style guide that will keep you consistent, even in your quasicasual correspondence, be it an e-mail or blog entry. This is where you’ll keep track of whether you’re using series commas before and and or in a series (still the recommended option for a number of reasons though there was a dalliance for a time with not using them), how you handle your headlines and titles in ad copy and other documents (capping ALL words in titles that are 4+ letters is the recommended rather than using the 5+ alternative as this lets you cap “with” and “from” and similar words that would normally be LC based on the part of speech. Looks better and flows better! This nitty-gritty stuff may seem unimportant to some, but it actually helps ensure a more-positive impression and helps streamline things even when working on a deadline. I definitely feel that in ad copy and other circumstances there are some times when certain rules can be relaxed, but others done for the sake of “design” actually look like mistakes, such as leaving out an apostrophe in the name of a business that is clearly supposed to be possessive, such as Richards Bistro instead of Richard’s… please don’t let your designer convince you that it looks better without… it just looks wrong. Sorry! We’re really here to help you look your best, and mistakes or wondering if something is a mistake resonates with a surprisingly large number of your readers and prospects–more than you think! : – ) Ciao for now!

Helping you create effective communications…

The intent of this blog is to assist anyone who wants to get the message out about a product or service and knows how critical it is to do it the right way. Capturing attention is key, yet what you do (and HOW you do it) once you’ve got the attention of your target audience is often even more important. In this age of electronic new media, there are some who believe that close is good enough, yet the fact is that most humans still are ultimately seeking for ways to rule out the inappropriate and validate credible sources… Mistake-laden copy or inconsistent style resonate with most readers. Thinking “they know what I mean anyway” is a dangerous and cavalier approach, especially when it’s not nearly as hard to do it right the first time than to do damage control later.

Check back soon to learn more about why doing it right is well worth it–and perhaps pick up a few tips along the way.