Tips Archives

Why Not Freshen Up?

Yesterday I received Robert Middleton’s weekly e-newsletter, “More Clients.” The newsletter has a subscriber list of more than 40,000, and Robert is a top marketing resource for small service businesses. This week’s “More Clients” focused on repackaging one’s products and services. Although it wasn’t about… continue reading

Read It LOUD (That Is, ALOUD)

Mistakes. Mistakes. Mistakes. We all make them, even when we think we have proofread our documents. Some mistakes are worse than others: Written: The rent will be $200 per month. Intended: The rent increase will be $200 per month. Written: You have a… continue reading

With Your Knickers in a Knot

Lately I’ve been thinking about courteous business writing. That topic always reminds me of a message I got from my friend and longtime colleague Cindy Clay, for whom I used to do a lot of writing. I had emailed a book review to Cindy, and… continue reading

Never Accept a Check

Never accept a grammar- and spell-check as foolproof. Last week I was once again reminded of the limits of proofreading software. In a business writing class, participants were sharing the documents they had just written, when we discovered these grammar- and spell-check misses: “between you… continue reading

Rule: Fourth of July / July 4

While others comment about U.S. independence from British rule on this American holiday, I’m thinking about another rule: the rule of numbers in dates. These numbers are rendered correctly: July 4 is a U.S. holiday. The Fourth of July is a U.S. holiday. … continue reading

Delete the Throat Clearing

When I started yesterday’s post, I dithered around for a while, typing in a few pompous sentences about the importance of ground rules. After a couple of minutes, I found my subject and got comfortably into it. Once there, I cut those first dull comments.… continue reading