Quote of the day on keeping it simple
I’m a big fan of writers using plain English. I urge people to keep their blog posts, articles, and white papers as short as possible. However, I agree with the following quote from Michael Maslansky’s The Language of Trust. Simple does not always mean short. As Maslansky explains, “It is always better to use five […]
Plain English and good writing
Have you ever struggled to get your colleagues, bosses, or clients to accept plain English and good writing? You have lots of company. It’s not easy to win over people who are used to a different style of communication. This is what spurred me to write “Seven Ways to Talk Your Financial Execs Out of […]
Reader challenge: What mistakes did this social media newbie make?
“I tried social media for more than a year, but I didn’t get any results. So I quit.” This is what one advisor told me when we chatted at a conference. The advisor said he had robust content, including a blog. Also, after listening to the FPA Experience panel, he wondered if he should shift […]
Finding your article’s focus with Roy Peter Clark
Identifying their focus is one of the biggest challenges for many of my blogging class students. I try to help them by asking “What problem do you solve for your readers?” I found additional helpful techniques in the “I don’t know what my story is really about” chapter of Roy Peter Clark’s Help! for Writers: […]
My big newsletter mistake’s lesson for you
When’s the best day and time to send your e-newsletters? My January mistake upset my beliefs about this topic. My usual routine and its rationale I usually send out my monthly newsletter around 8:15 a.m. on the first non-holiday Tuesday of the month. I send it early in the day because my Constant Contact statistics […]