Writing Tips Archives

Should Business Documents Be Interesting?

A business associate wrote to me today about a disagreement she is having with a colleague. He believes that his extensive vocabulary (with words such as erroneous and ameliorate), complex sentence structures, folksy cliches, and rambling style make his business writing more interesting. She disagrees.… continue reading

Writing for the World

The business section of today’s Seattle Times features an article about Free & Clear, a company that provides stop-smoking programs. CEO Tim Kilgallon is quoted as saying “Tobacco treatment is the low-hanging fruit in health-care cost savings.” The same quote appears under Mr. Kilgallon’s photo… continue reading

How to Be More Efficient: A Consultant’s Confession

Last week I received a detailed, well-written email from a new client. She had laid out a series of questions for me about an upcoming workshop. I responded to each question within the body of her original email. That way, she would instantly know which… continue reading

Email: The Numbers Game

Early this morning one of our clients returned our Friday phone call. She explained that she had been out of the office all day on Friday. While she was gone, she had received 70 email messages and 5 voice mail messages. Given her day away… continue reading

The Downside of Email

Example 1: Five days ago I sent email to two clients letting them know about a training discount that would expire today. I got no response. Today our Client Services Manager phoned to remind them of the deadline. They both signed. Example 2: Several times over… continue reading

A Magic Tale of Email

A manager was working late last night, slogging through the last of her email, when she noticed a strange lamp on the bookshelf. She picked it up. Since the lamp was dusty, she rubbed it with a cloth she kept in her desk drawer. As… continue reading

August Sales in August?

Our local business journal ran a headline in its online version this week: "Home sales last month were august." At first, I thought I had stumbled on a typo. Reading the first sentence, I was certain I had: "Western Washington home sales and prices continued… continue reading

Writing Tips

What She Would Have Said

Last week a client wrote asking for help with this problem sentence: "By assisting the credit union industry, we directly help our broader, credit union community and indirectly assist people to access money and get back on their feet." She was wondering about the word… continue reading

Cover Letters: Rising to the Top

Many communication and marketing experts talk about having an elevator speech. It’s the mini-speech you give someone to promote yourself, your idea, or your business. The connection with elevators is the idea that you have only 30 seconds or less–the time it would take to… continue reading

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