28

Feb

5 Big Grammar Mistakes Common in Web Writing

As business writers, we create content for websites, blogs and intranet sites almost every day. This writing can be challenging because it’s more difficult to catch small mistakes on a computer screen than on a piece of paper. Yet, these mistakes are visible to all your readers, including employees, customers and potential clients, making you appear careless.

Your web writing is important, so make sure you avoid these common mistakes that destroy your credibility.

1. Loose vs. Lose (homonyms)

Wrong: We can’t loose this account.

Right: We can’t lose this account.

2. It’s vs. Its (homonyms)

Wrong: Bring the presentation, along with it’s adjoining documents.

Right: Bring the presentation, along with its adjoining documents.

3. They’re vs. Their vs. There (homonyms)

Wrong: The executive team is currently in they’re meeting.

Right: The executive team is currently in their meeting.

4. Effect vs. Affect

NOTE: In general, affect is a verb which means “to influence,” while effect is a noun which means “the result.” There are exceptions to this, such as “a happy affect” and “to effect change.”

Wrong: The work-life balance symposium has had many positive affects on our company’s culture.

Right: The work-life balance symposium has had many positive effects on our company’s culture.

5. Overuse of Ellipsis

NOTE: The ellipsis (” . . . “) is a series of marks that indicates the intentional omission of a word, phrase or section. The ellipsis also indicates an unfinished thought.

Web writing, especially blogs, use the ellipsis too frequently. Using the ellipsis to indicate an unfinished thought has great impact in fiction and poetry, such as portraying melancholy. However, they should be used sparingly in business writing. Frequent use of ellipsis makes the writer appear lazy or unable to finish a complete thought.

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89 days ago Short URL 6 Comments

Writing

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21

Feb

Subject Verb Agreement

Lacking subject-verb agreement is a common grammatical error, especially in business writing where we write and re-write sentences frequently. Most mistakes arise when you edit sentences and forget to change the verb or when you don’t identify the sentence’s subject correctly.

For any sentence to be correct, the verb must agree with the subject in number and person. Take a look at these examples:

1. Each of these communications supports the new brand strategy.

Subject: “Each,” not “communications”

Verb: “Supports,” not “support”

2. There are two topics that we need to address in today’s meeting.

Subject: “Topics,” not “we”

Verb:”Are,” not “is”

3. Marie shares her progress with me every day.

Subject:”Marie,” not “me”

Verb: “Shares,” not “share”

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96 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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17

Feb

5 Benefits of Blogging for your Business

Every business, large or small, has a wealth of information about their products, services and how they benefit customers. Today customers and clients really want learn as much of this information as possible before handing your their hard-earned money.

Blogging is one of the best platforms to communicate this information and share stories of how you help the community, how customers use your product in creative ways or build success with your services.

While it’s hard to gauge the financial benefits of blogging, it promotes your business in many ways:

  1. Establishing your company’s voice and brand. Your blog can develop a highly professional, knowledgeable — and human — voice for the business. By promoting your brand with conversational and approachable language, you’ll establish trust. A great example is Stonyfield Farm’s blog.
  2. Hearing directly from your customers and clients. Blogging is a great way to create a dialogue with your customers. It’s a space where readers can easily comment on your articles, thoughts and ideas; they can also share stories and pictures about their experiences and successes. One of my favorite examples is Sharpie’s blog, where customer’s artwork created with their markers are showcased.
  3. Becoming a resource for customers and clients. By writing about what you know — your area of business — you’ll establish yourself as an expert in the field. Readers will return to your blog again and again to learn. Eventually, many “repeat readers” will become customers. People Impact Practices’ blog about leadership exemplifies this.  
  4. Marketing yourself for little cost. Blogging is inexpensive and there are many important benefits. You can introduce new products, showcase successes and help spread great publicity.
  5. Creating an online presence. Search engines prefer sites that are regularly updated, so blogging gives your site’s ranking a boost.

Creating and maintaining a great business blog is hard work, but the benefits mean it’s worth the work. With a bit of planning and some time spent writing, your blog will add value, strengthen your brand and increase profits.

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100 days ago Short URL Comments

Business Writing

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14

Feb

Working with Critiques & Suggestions

"WE'RE LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS. WRITE ONE...

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After finishing the first draft of any project, it’s common to ask others for their suggestions. This can be as formal as a critique session or as informal as asking a trusted colleague to glance through your work. Receiving feedback is a great way to get an outside perspective — and see if your project reaches the intended audience.

So you send along your project, listen and take notes as others comment on your work and offer suggestions. But now what? How do you incorporate their suggestions to improve the final project?

  1. Pat yourself on the back for all the compliments and successes. It’s easy to fixate on what others thought was “wrong,” so make an effort to think about all that they thought was successful. Create a list of your writing strengths so you can build upon them in future projects.
  2. Revisit the project’s central goals. Now that you’ve received feedback from others, take some time to revisit your central goal. This is your objective — not writing something that will please everyone (which is impossible, by the way).
  3. Consider ALL suggestions. Analyze each and every suggestion through the lens of the central goal. Most comments and suggestions will be ideal for improving the project and helping reach the goal more effectively. Others, however, simply need to be adjusted to help achieve the central goal.
  4. Tackle simple improvements first. Incorporate small changes, such as changing titles, reordering content or improving the syntax.
  5. Determine which large suggestions you’ll incorporate. Many suggestions will go a long way to complete a stellar project. Take those suggestions and incorporate them as best as you can.
  6. Think of creative ways to carry out other suggestions. Not all of the feedback you receive will be appropriate or even applicable. In these cases, consider creative ways to pursue their idea. For example, if someone suggests that your presentation should include in-depth research on a specific topic — but this is not possible with the time constraints — consider creating a separate handout with the research to supplement the presentation.
  7. Show your final work to those who helped you — and remember to thank them. By giving you feedback, your colleagues invested their time and energy into your project. Show them that you value their help by sending along your final project with a note of thanks.

Remember that this is your project. As the writer, you are most aware of the goals and parameters. Take the time to incorporate suggestions while staying true to your goals and writing style.

103 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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08

Feb

5 ways to Write Faster

Italiano: Autore: Francesco Cirillo rilasciata...

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If you’re like most business writers, you enjoy writing. You probably don’t enjoy feeling rushed or under pressure to finish a project. The thought that you missed the opportunity to create a stellar project, just because you needed a few more hours to work on it, can be disheartening.

Writing faster at work is a huge advantage. Some people naturally write faster than others, but we can all take a few steps to improve.  Here are a few strategies for writing faster:

  1.  Create an outline: You may think that you don’t have the time to create an outline, but that’s often a big mistake. Take 5-10 minutes to outline each of the project’s sections and information. In the long run, this saves lots of time because you know exactly what you’re writing and what you’re leading up to.
  2. Cut down on the distractions: It’s almost impossible to write quickly while multi-tasking. Take the time to clear your desk of clutter, send a message to your colleagues that you want to focus on a project, close your browser and email notifications. This helps you concentrate and really dig into the task at hand.
  3. Set a timer for writing: Carve out a few blocks of time to focus solely on writing. Don’t spend any time editing or reviewing your work – just write until your time’s up. I like using the pomodoro technique of working for 25 minutes straight on one task, then taking a 5-minute break.
  4. Don’t rack your brain: When you get stuck, don’t spend time searching for the perfect word or sentence. Instead, note what is missing and come back to it later. For instance, add [insert transition sentence] or [insert title]. Write until the timer goes off, then return and fill in the blanks now that your brain is clearer. Not only does this method usually take less time, it also prevents writer’s block.
  5. Take a break before editing: The slowest way to write is to stare at the screen without direction or ideas for improvements. If you find yourself loosing momentum, take a short break. Once you’ve finished the project, take a longer break – ideally one full day – and edit it with fresh eyes.

How about you? Do you have any strategies for writing faster?

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109 days ago Short URL Comments

Writing

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06

Feb

Ways to Organize your Many Writing Projects

Writing at work almost always means juggling many different types of projects: reports, project updates, reminders, emails, presentations, speeches, notes and others.

Sign up for my e-zine for helpful strategies for the times that you have multiple writing projects on your plate.

111 days ago Short URL Comments

Writing

02

Feb

How to Understand your Audience Better

Business writing projects often fail because they are notAudience written for the intended audience. When writers only consider their perspective, the final product confuses the readers and falls flat.

When writers do take the time to understand their audience, the final product informs, persuades and engages with great impact.

All business writers should take the time to examine who exactly they are writing to in order to be effective. This is especially true when writing web copy, reports, training materials, speeches and presentations. Consider these simple steps to understand your audiences better — and get the results you want out of your writing:

1. Articulate the audience’s major characteristics

Write down this group’s general perspective and responsibilities. If you are writing a speech to your business’ human resources team, clearly explain how their work fits in with the speech’s topic and why it is valued. Also, consider their basic assumptions that they have that will influence how they read your writing. For example, if you are writing a brochure to promote employee engagement and development, you’ll want to directly address – and overturn – the assumption that lateral career moves are not helpful for progression.

2. Articulate the central things that the audience wants

What does the audience hope to receive from the project? How would the project best help them achieve their long-term goals? Seriously consider how your writing can help them achieve something they want.  For example if you are writing a presentation that details how the business can sell more effectively to Asian markets, clearly explain why this group benefits from this, and how it will help them reach their larger goal of success.

When you take the time to consider these questions, you’ll learn more about your audience and write to them more effectively. You’ll prevent confusion and unclear messages, while also making a direct impact. In the end, you’ll get the biggest “bang” out of your hard work.

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115 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Business Writing/Writing

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