May
01
Written by Richard Ketchen, a Vancouver-based corporate writer that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Click here to subscribe to his monthly newsletter.
Woodrow Wilson once said, “If I am to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if for fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”
In many ways, the same is true for business writing. It simply takes longer to write short. Brevity, however, is one of the keys to reaching and connecting with your audience. Unfortunately, most writers just don’t know when to quit writing or how to cut unneeded copy.
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Apr
28
Peter Reek over at the Smart Savvy blog wrote recently about the Swine Flu & Twitter. He picked up on something I’ve heard some murmurs about — that people were using Twitter to pass along misinformation about the disease. But Peter also goes on to point out:
Twitter’s biggest weakness is also its biggest strength, however.
Think of the tweets from the Hudson River plane crash, or the earthquakes in China. These examples weren’t just noise, they were real time news providing valuable insight into the calamities.
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Apr
17
Alright, here’s something a little less serious, but for those of you involved with Social Media, I think you’ll get a chuckle out of it.
Facebook Etiquette
PS I do think that etiquette is one of those words — no matter how much I stare at it, it still looks like its spelled wrong!
Mar
05
I ran across a TED talk featuring Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter. Given the last few posts on Twitter, I wanted to point it out. Although, I did find him to be a bit stiff in presenting.
For anyone not familiar with TED talks, here’s what Wikipedia has to say:
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual conference that defines its mission as “ideas worth spreading”. The lectures, also called TED Talks, cover a broad set of topics including science, arts and design, politics, culture, business, global issues, technology and development, and entertainment.
I strongly recommend them, they’re absolutely fabulous and are often wonderful speakers presenting on topics that they are passionate about.
Feb
24
If someone asked me for career advice, the first thing I would recommend is to join a professional association. No other opportunity presents the same chance to network, learn, mentor and grow. For me, when I first started out, I joined IABC/BC and it was a turning point in my career.
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Feb
19
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about companies and advertising during this current economic downturn. The idea really started festering today when I emailed a newspaper, on behalf of a client, to request a media kit with the latest prices. This client has often advertised with this particular newspaper and, as such, often receives discounts. My request was partly because I didn’t have the current media kit, but also a feeler to see if I could get preferential pricing. The response back? “Last time we gave you a half page ad at a significant discount. I’m willing to give you the same thing at a 50% discount to that price.”
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Feb
02
At a time when so many people have blogs and there is no shortage to accessible information on the internet, it may seem strange that I am hanging out my shingle and creating this blog. I’m not setting out to try and present myself as an expert or to compete with the major blogs that are out there. Instead, my purpose is threefold. First, I’m interested in motivating and challenging myself to analyze my experiences and learn from them, and to research and learn more about topics in which I have less experience. Second, I’m interested in sharing my experiences and helping to make the communications field approachable to all individuals, regardless of their experience level. And third, I’m excited about creating an environment for dialogue. I fully believe that growth, education and new ideas stem from discussing and sharing experiences. So, in that light, a blog seems like the perfect forum and I invite everyone to share their thoughts and comments. In that way, we’ll all be able to challenge each other.
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