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Welcome to summer and the lead up to Christmas. Whether or not you believe in Christmas, December is usually a crazy month with end of year functions, people shopping madly and lots of things on everyone's to do lists. I hope you are prepared for business in this busy time and find some precious time for yourself this month. I have returned to work on a very part time basis during some of my son's naps - I am accepting new work by booking it so things take a little longer than they used to. I expect to get a new assistant in the new year which will speed things up again. There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the media recently, with the global financial crisis - and I've written a bit about it for clients, too. I think it is a good time to review business practices and cut unnecessary expenditure, while still working on the business; cutting back on everything is just panic driven and not serving your business or clients. For instance, I would suggest reviewing current and planned marketing so to stop any ineffective marketing but continuing with marketing that is likely to bring in new clients. Have you thought about how to improve your current marketing, rather than fall into the trap of reducing your marketing budget during tough external events? Use your words wisely and have a happy Christmas or end of year celebration. Tash
PS If you would like
to share the Christmas spirit, and maybe some special Christmas
memories and traditions, why not log into the
Love Santa
blog? And it's not too late to order letters for your family or
even your clients for an unusual business gift.
blog -
www.wordconstructions.com.au/blog
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Ghost writing We all know that there are many tasks to be done when you run your own business, and that outsourcing some of those tasks can save you a lot of time. Writing can be outsourced so that someone else writes your web copy or brochures for you, saving you time and effort and resulting in a professional finish. Generally, no one knows who wrote the content of your business materials as there is no name attached and most people notice the entire package that is your business. However, if you want to put a name to some work (such as promotional articles for use on websites and in newsletters) it is different to just getting content written. You can use the writer's name (for example if you put one of my articles on your website), use the writer's name but with your business name (for example, I have written articles for trade magazines where I am listed as the author and my bio box is something like "Tash Hughes is the communications consultant for company X. X offers...") or use your name and business information (this is called ghost writing and is likely to cost more than the other two options.) The best option will depend on your purpose (provide information, attract repeat site visitors, build credibility) and budget, and you may find that all three will suit your business at different times. Learn more about Ghost writing in my new article.
Sending a
Christmas message Many businesses send out a Christmas email to their customers, supporters and suppliers so here are some tips of writing your email...
Poor examples Sometimes, the easiest way to learn the correct way to do something is to see it done poorly so in this section of my newsletter, I show you some real-life examples of writing that need a little help. Today’s example is part of the first sentence of the home page of a website – not an impressive start! Example: … for its Australian and New Zealand clients, which include. Issues with this example: The sentence ends in the middle of an idea, leaving readers waiting for more information. In reality, there is a bullet list after this sentence, but there is no apparent link from this sentence to the list. When preparing a bulleted list as part of text, remember that the list is actually part of the sentence itself. So the sentence must lead into the list, usually with a colon (:), and be complete with each point. That is, try each bullet point in the sentence as if there was only one point – if each makes sense this way, the list is correct. A better version would be: (without changing the meaning) for its Australian and New Zealand clients, which include: You are welcome to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think will be interested, but please send it as is without changes. If you were passed this email by a friend, you can subscribe here. This newsletter is only ever sent to my clients and people who request the monthly newsletter & writing tips found at www.wordconstructions.com.au. Your email details will never be given, lent or sold to any party whatsoever and you are free to leave this service at any time by unsubscribing here. Important: This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender. Whilst Word Constructions has taken reasonable steps to ensure this email is virus free, it accepts no responsibility and makes no warranty. The recipient should take its own steps to ensure there is no virus. Word Constructions accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. |
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© 2008, Tash Hughes