From the category archives:

Writing

4 Essential Tips for Writing an Effective Letter

by Travis Heermann June 8, 2010 Audience

Does anyone write letters anymore? We have e-mail, text messaging, social media web sites, and the soul of communicational brevity, Twitter. With all these other forms of communication, do we still need to know how to write a good letter? Whether you’re seeking employment, trying to sell widgets, or contacting business associates, now, more than [...]

Tagged as: audience, business letters, how to write a letter, letters

4 comments Read the full post →

7 Attention-Grabbing Words for the 21st Century

by Travis Heermann June 1, 2010 Audience

Culture evolves and language evolves with it. Words that worked in 1950 will not necessarily work in the 21st century. The following list of words seize the attention of your audience–whether your audience is sales prospects, potential donors, or voters–and elicit powerful internal responses with American audiences. In the direction our culture is evolving, these [...]

Tagged as: attention grabbing words, messaging, words

0 comments Read the full post →

Why Good Writing Doesn’t Matter

by Mistina Picciano April 29, 2010 Writing

When people find out I have a business writing agency, they often smile and nod. Then, invariably they tell me about their wife, nephew, fourth cousin, etc., who’s “a good writer.” What, exactly, does it mean to be a good writer? Signs of writing competency Vivid storytelling abilities Creative, effective syntax Mastery of grammar [...]

Tagged as: business communication, messaging, Writing

0 comments Read the full post →

Top 10 Writing Mistakes Part 2: Today

by Travis Heermann March 31, 2010 Communication

In Part 1, we examined error studies of writing during three decades of the 20th Century: 1917, the late 1930s, and 1986. We found that the nature of the errors shifted slightly–even though the primary errors were with comma usage, pronouns, spelling/misused words, verb tense–but the incidence of errors held steady, at about 2.1-2.2 errors [...]

Tagged as: audience, business communication, language, Writing

0 comments Read the full post →

Top 10 Writing Mistakes Part 1: the 20th Century

by Travis Heermann March 18, 2010 Communication

Many people speculate that writing is getting worse. Employers lament the ubiquity of text-speak and inappropriate informality in professional communication from new college graduates. Grammarians gnash their teeth at the downturn in writing quality across the board. But is it true? While it is true that technology is changing how human beings interact, the effect [...]

Tagged as: writing tips

2 comments Read the full post →

6 Online Writing Mistakes that Make People Click Away

by Deidre Rienzo February 11, 2010 Marketing

Do you remember “The Gong Show”? Brave contestants would go on stage and display their talents (or lack thereof) in front of three judges. If the contestants made a mistake, or just didn’t impress… GONG. Game over. The world of online business has a gong equivalent. It’s called your bounce rate, and it tracks how [...]

Tagged as: business communication, online marketing, writing tips

2 comments Read the full post →

How Many Kinds of Grammar Are There Really?

by Travis Heermann February 4, 2010 Editing

Most people believe that English grammar is simply English grammar. There is a right way and a wrong way to construct a sentence, a right place and a wrong place to put a comma, words that go together and words that don’t. For the most part, this is true. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of [...]

Tagged as: business communication, grammar, language

0 comments Read the full post →

How and When to Write a White Paper

by Travis Heermann January 14, 2010 Business Development

A white paper is an effective marketing tool most often used for B2B communication, especially in the IT industry, although their use has spread to nearly all business sectors. How effective are they? According to TechTarget 2009 Media Consumption Report, 90% of survey respondents stated that white papers were effective tools in buyers’ decision-making processes. [...]

Tagged as: White Papers, writing tips

0 comments Read the full post →

How People Read on the Web

by Travis Heermann January 7, 2010 Communication

Let’s face it, you’re going to read this paragraph. More than likely, you’re going to read this one, too. They’re both short paragraphs, with short sentences. However, the further you get into this blog post, the more likely you’re going to start scanning, rather than reading closely. You’ll start looking for keywords or sentences with [...]

Tagged as: Websites, writing for web

0 comments Read the full post →

Blogging Tips from the Noveling Front

by Mistina Picciano November 5, 2009 Blogs

It’s November 5, which means a select few of you (probably those who consider sleep and hygiene nice, but optional) are giddy from the heady, early throes of cranking out 50,000 words in just 30 days. Yep, it’s National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, and I, too, have joined more than 100,000 participants in rearranging [...]

Tagged as: blogging, NaNoWriMo, noveling

0 comments Read the full post →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →