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Welcome to a new edition of the Word Constructions newsletter. Well it appears out long hot spell has broken across most of Australia - I would even say winter has hit in Melbourne! And yet two weeks ago we were hot! My blog is now permanently available on my website - you can read it at any time at www.wordconstructions.com.au/blog If you had the old address in your favourites or as a RSS feed, now is the time to update it so you don't miss out on the posts. As usual, I have covered a lot of topics, although all relating to writing and/or business - I also started a new section on basic grammar and writing tips as there appears to be a demand for this level of information for some business owners/managers. I have recently finished off a few projects - some were new and urgent, and others had been ongoing - and it feels great; it's almost like starting fresh to begin all new projects. Do you enjoy that feeling of satisfaction when something big, difficult or unpleasant (or all three!) is done? I love that feeling, but don't always take the time to appreciate the feeling as I am too busy moving onto the next project. I challenge you to appreciate your achievements and efforts this month - see what impact it has on. By the way, apparently there was a problem with last months' newsletter and not everyone received it. Technology is wonderful when it works, but when it doesn't... So if you were one of the people who missed it, you can still read it online. Use your words wisely! Tash
PS Thank you for those
who asked about cuboree. It was a great, although tiring, experience
and I'm glad I went - and I may even go again in three years time!
I wrote about some of my experiences in my blog, and intend
using cuboree for some business lessons soon!
blog -
wordconstructions.wordpress.com
A brand for a company is like a
reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard
things well. .
Words and branding I recently answered a branding survey and it made me think about what a brand really is. It is interesting to talk to people about brands as it is a topic that everyone thinks they understand but so many don't realise how much depth there is to a brand. A brand is not just having a logo and its not just for big businesses with huge marketing budgets. As Jeff Bezos said, a brand is essentially your business' reputation and impacts on how people view your business. And how people view your business has a huge impact on how many sales you make and what prices you can charge. If you asked "what does a brand include?", many people would give answers such as the logo, web design, packaging and labels, corporate colours, uniforms and signage. I believe there is a lot more to a brand, and that the words used by a business are an essential part of building a strong and effective brand. Think of it this way - if wording was not part of the brand, how would you choose between two companies with equally pretty logos? For more information, try my blog post on branding and my article on content as part of your brand.
Domain names Domain names (that is, the address of your website) are also an important part of your brand. Choosing a domain name that is easy to remember and meaningful will encourage more visitors to your site. And making use of your business name in the domain name will help build familiarly with the name of the website and business at the same time. However, don't forget to consider your brand when choosing the domain name. Abbreviations of the business name sometimes may great domain names, but not if your brand strictly uses the full name or the abbreviation has a different meaning. For example, if Fletcher United National has a professional brand/image, then a domain name of www.fun.url is not working with the brand so the domain name www.fletcher.url would be a better choice. The extension of your domain is also important for your brand. Using .com.au adds an Australian flavour to your brand and attracts Australians needing a local service; using .com for an Australian site doesn't build the Australian aspect of your brand. Even worse, if you are concentrating on an Australian market and have a .com domain, it may come across as you taking the cheap option which does not build a brand of success or longevity. If you are concerned that your domain name does not support your brand, why not look at alternative domain names? You can keep the current one and simply 'park' it over the new one (in other words, typing in either URL will direct people to the same website) - you build a better brand into the future without loosing any current traffic. And this may protect you from a competitor starting a website on a domain name that would have suited your business perfectly.
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. This sentence was part of an unsolicited email about a mail marketing service – none of it was well written but this sentence stood out… example: Issues with this example: They’re trying too hard with this sentence, especially as they don’t have a good grasp of written English. It is much better to write a good sentence with short words than a bad sentence with big words as if to impress. The grammar of the sentence is completely wrong – the end of the sentence gives us the necessary information to understand it, so it should have been first. Of course, such a poor example of an email is not going to convince many people of their expertise at mail marketing! A better version would be: (without changing the meaning) This email demonstrates our ability to execute your order. And even better would be: This email shows that we can do this for you. 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