Improve your writing in 60 seconds

Successful business writing must be concise and precise in order for you to reap rewards. Typically, you have about 30 to 60 seconds to engage your reader. If you can't capture the reader's attention immediately, expect your document to hit the "circular file," that is, the trash can.

• Avoid awkward sentences.
• Use active verbs.
• Read your document out loud to make sure it makes sense.
• Use a second set of eyes to proofread your document.

Does this mean extra work and time? Absolutely! But if you're interested in selling your services, product or concept, you must give writing your best effort. Let me give you a quick example of how you can take a "sick" sentence and turn it into a "healthy" one. Here is a sentence you might find in business correspondence.

Poorly written sentence: "Recognizing your desire for an improved pricing arrangement, the following is a good approximation of the existing contract with modifications to reflect the agreements we made when we held our meeting."

Say what?? Let's try this again.

Sentence that gets results: "We realize you want a better pricing arrangement, so we've modified the contract to reflect what we agreed to when we met."

Remember this: When it comes to effective writing, less is often more.

Tags: Writing, Business Writing, Media by Sistrunk

Building a case for public relations

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is showing off its redesigned website. The association is using the opportunity to promote a new advocacy campaign for the PR industry, "The Business Case for Public Relations." PRSA leaders explained why they are undertaking this venture:

Public relations is more vital than ever before, given the explosion of consumer engagement through new and social media, the collapse of reputation and trust in major institutions and the evolving needs and concerns of corporate CEOs. At the same time, though, the industry continues to suffer criticism at the hands of individuals who do not understand the practice and application of public relations.

The new campaign and website offer public relations practitioners tools and resources to take their work -- and the industry -- to the next level. Read more here.


Tags: PRSA, Public Relations, PR, Media by Sistrunk

Blogging mistakes you don' t want to make

Whether you're blogging for fun or business, you want to make a good impression. That means you have to make a strong effort to attract and maintain your readers. After all, your blog is an extension of you. First impressions are important.

Many bloggers ignore the importance of being user-friendly. If your writing style and web design are too complex, you'll make it hard for new readers to understand and trust your site.

For those writers who publish professional blogs, one piece of advice cannot be stressed enough. Make sure your content is Internet-friendly! Traditional print media and marketing techniques often don't work on the Web. Too many sites have interesting content, but you may miss it because the posts are too long and awkwardly written. They read like research papers or investigative reports.

Many business blogs are jargon-heavy, another no-no. You'll never go wrong if you keep it simple.

Engage your audience. It will keep your readers coming back.


Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Media, Marketing, Business,Writing

Paper cuts

Can the Internet save local news? Anyone who has been following the newspaper industry knows the picture is dismal. With each day seems to come more staff cuts and publication closings.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last edition on Wednesday, nearly a century and a half after its forerunner rolled off it's first issue from a hand-cranked press. The PI now becomes an online venture at seattlepi.com. One can only wonder if online journalism is the business model of the future.

So far, in this year alone, U.S. newspapers have slashed more than 5,600 jobs through layoffs or buyouts. And the cuts keep coming. A story in USA Today, Newspaper closings raise fears about industry, takes an in-depth look at the state of print journalism.

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Tags: Newspapers, Newspaper Industry, Media by Sistrunk

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