If you need any more proof that businesses live and die by the words they use, read this article on audience management by Acxiom Corporation's David Danzinger.
So the question of the day is, how are you managing?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Five Reasons Client Newsletters Rock
1. Newsletters deliver repeat business.
2. If you build a website and they don't come, a newsletter can drive clients to your site.
3. Keep your friends close.... newsletters increase customer loyalty.
4. ...and your enemies closer.... um, if you have enemies, you definitely need a newsletter!
5. Newsletters are referral reminders. As in, hey, I should mention Charlie's Landscaping to my new neighbors...
Do you need a newsletter? Well, no. Not unless you really like repeat business...customer retention... client referrals...
2. If you build a website and they don't come, a newsletter can drive clients to your site.
3. Keep your friends close.... newsletters increase customer loyalty.
4. ...and your enemies closer.... um, if you have enemies, you definitely need a newsletter!
5. Newsletters are referral reminders. As in, hey, I should mention Charlie's Landscaping to my new neighbors...
Do you need a newsletter? Well, no. Not unless you really like repeat business...customer retention... client referrals...
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sell your book in 25 words or less
Can you do it? Literary Agent's contest ends Saturday. Great practice!
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-sentence-summary.html
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-sentence-summary.html
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Whoever writes this guy's stuff...
...has a way with understatement.
“It’s going to be a very interesting summer and I’m looking forward to it.” -- LeBron James
“It’s going to be a very interesting summer and I’m looking forward to it.” -- LeBron James
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Write Way to Respond to Customers
Companies that spend tons of money on ad campaigns designed to get people to buy things seem to understand that words are influential. Sadly, the same companies can fail basic business communication tests.
A recent example: Boeing's response to a letter from a...well, let's say a potential customer. In fact, the correspondence was a crayon drawing of a plane sent to the aerospace company from an 8-year-old whose dad - snicker if you will - is a social media blogger. (A plant? Possibly, but I doubt it.)
If being a writer is a disease, it has an unusually high comorbidity with another affliction, called customerservice-itis. Those of us who suffer from both will attest it's an extremely painful condition.
One of my first episodes occurred in the spring of oh, about 1972. A delicious and well-packaged chocolate bunny in my Easter basket clearly labeled "solid" was in fact quite hollow. My dad said, well, why don't you write a letter to the company? So I did.
The company responded fairly well to my complaint, sending a letter of apology that included a brief explanation about air bubbles in manufacturing equipment (which even to a six-year-old, sounds like an excuse) and a package of hard candy.
I had unreasonably high expectations, I'll admit. I wanted replacement chocolate. And that air-bubble excuse didn't sit well with me. Still, I give the company points for trying.
Obviously, the episode stuck with me, leading me to become 1- hyper-sensitive to customer service slights and 2- a pretty good customer service manager, IMHO.
The real point of the story is this: after nearly four decades and a little brain damage along the way, I still remember the incident, the company (The Franklin Candy Company) and its response. I never bought anything from The Franklin Candy Company and on numerous occasions reminded my parents to avoid their products as well.
Forty years from now, the 8-year-old who wrote to Boeing may be a procurement specialist for DARPA or its lead engineer. Boeing, I suggest you review your customer service communications procedures. And skip any references to air bubbles, just for good measure.
A recent example: Boeing's response to a letter from a...well, let's say a potential customer. In fact, the correspondence was a crayon drawing of a plane sent to the aerospace company from an 8-year-old whose dad - snicker if you will - is a social media blogger. (A plant? Possibly, but I doubt it.)
If being a writer is a disease, it has an unusually high comorbidity with another affliction, called customerservice-itis. Those of us who suffer from both will attest it's an extremely painful condition.
One of my first episodes occurred in the spring of oh, about 1972. A delicious and well-packaged chocolate bunny in my Easter basket clearly labeled "solid" was in fact quite hollow. My dad said, well, why don't you write a letter to the company? So I did.
The company responded fairly well to my complaint, sending a letter of apology that included a brief explanation about air bubbles in manufacturing equipment (which even to a six-year-old, sounds like an excuse) and a package of hard candy.
I had unreasonably high expectations, I'll admit. I wanted replacement chocolate. And that air-bubble excuse didn't sit well with me. Still, I give the company points for trying.
Obviously, the episode stuck with me, leading me to become 1- hyper-sensitive to customer service slights and 2- a pretty good customer service manager, IMHO.
The real point of the story is this: after nearly four decades and a little brain damage along the way, I still remember the incident, the company (The Franklin Candy Company) and its response. I never bought anything from The Franklin Candy Company and on numerous occasions reminded my parents to avoid their products as well.
Forty years from now, the 8-year-old who wrote to Boeing may be a procurement specialist for DARPA or its lead engineer. Boeing, I suggest you review your customer service communications procedures. And skip any references to air bubbles, just for good measure.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Do You Measure Revenue from Social Media?
By now everyone is convinced that social media can drive web metrics (eg, visitors to a site) but how much MONEY does it MAKE? If you don't know yet, you'll probably be finding out soon.
But even if you can't exactly pinpoint the dollar amount, making money is the point, isn't it? I mean, while a billion visitors is nice, a billion dollars is even nicer.
You know where this is going: writers drive decisions about where dollars go. Do you need a writer? Only if your business uses words.
But even if you can't exactly pinpoint the dollar amount, making money is the point, isn't it? I mean, while a billion visitors is nice, a billion dollars is even nicer.
You know where this is going: writers drive decisions about where dollars go. Do you need a writer? Only if your business uses words.
- web content
- business blogs
- client newsletters
- sales letters
- brochures
- catalog copy
- targeted e-mail marketing
- product descriptions
- press releases
- employee newsletters
- contracts
- case studies
- catalogs
- employee training manuals
- invoices & collection letters
Friday, April 16, 2010
Good Grammar Shouldn't Slow Us Down!
Social media marketing concepts are important and yet they haven't made grammar obsolete, have they?
I don't think so, but then, I still favor complete sentences when I'm texting.
I was very glad to meet the alot earlier this week. (See my last post) The seemingly unassuming beast offers a lighter look at grammar gaffes, but however friendly alots might be, they scare me. I understand (and agree with) the argument "since social media moves fast, so we have to move faster." To that argument I add, we can move faster better with clear communication.
If I'm a grammar snob, I'm a low-level one. Improper use of its and it's and its' and apostrophes in general are my primary complaints. In fact, the rules governing the proper use of apostrophes are so simple, I'm amazed the basic spelling/grammar checker features in most word processing tools can't be programmed to highlight at least half of the potential culprits. It wouldn't be cheating! C'mon. Some of us grew up "cheating" with paper dictionaries before spell-check saved us from countless typos and our own ignorance.
What ignited my rant today: two misused apostrophes in a short blog post by a marketing professional. That is, two remaining AFTER a visitor to the site pointed out another, which the author then fixed. I repeat: we all make mistakes.
When a professional communicator makes a mistake in a blog post (or any other document that remains available 24/7) and can correct that mistake, he - or she - should.
A nifty little tool that catches apostrophe errors and other grammar goofs would make us all look better. Bored programmers? Are you listening?
I don't think so, but then, I still favor complete sentences when I'm texting.
I was very glad to meet the alot earlier this week. (See my last post) The seemingly unassuming beast offers a lighter look at grammar gaffes, but however friendly alots might be, they scare me. I understand (and agree with) the argument "since social media moves fast, so we have to move faster." To that argument I add, we can move faster better with clear communication.
If I'm a grammar snob, I'm a low-level one. Improper use of its and it's and its' and apostrophes in general are my primary complaints. In fact, the rules governing the proper use of apostrophes are so simple, I'm amazed the basic spelling/grammar checker features in most word processing tools can't be programmed to highlight at least half of the potential culprits. It wouldn't be cheating! C'mon. Some of us grew up "cheating" with paper dictionaries before spell-check saved us from countless typos and our own ignorance.
What ignited my rant today: two misused apostrophes in a short blog post by a marketing professional. That is, two remaining AFTER a visitor to the site pointed out another, which the author then fixed. I repeat: we all make mistakes.
When a professional communicator makes a mistake in a blog post (or any other document that remains available 24/7) and can correct that mistake, he - or she - should.
A nifty little tool that catches apostrophe errors and other grammar goofs would make us all look better. Bored programmers? Are you listening?
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