Archive for December, 2008

Your seam seems a little loose

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Seam:a line where two edges join. Often used for the stitching and area beyond the stitching where fabric is joined in clothes.
The pattern allowed for a 5mm seam.

Seem: to appear
It seems he is selling his home.

seemly: to appear in a fitting or proper manner
“It would not be seemly for a woman to wear pants” said Queen Victoria.

Branding the little things

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

Building a brand is an important way to develop your business and attract customers, but I read a blog post recently that reminded me of branding even the small things to match your style guide.

Kylie posted that customising and branding your invoices is useful, and quite easy. Personally, I have always had my logo and other details in my invoices, but I hadn’t thought about changing the font. Many people would say that invoices are boring and nuisances rather than marketing tools – and that no one would ever notice what font the dollars are printed in – but it still part of being consistent and reinforcing the look of your business. It also shows an attention to detail for anyone who does notice the details of your invoice.

So, is your invoice branded? Does that include choice of font, wording style and colours/backgrounds?

Let’s take the role for a roll!

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Role: the title and/or behaviours and actions associated with or expected of someone. It also applies to the playing of a character in acting.
In the role of friend, I have to tell you that there is a problem.

Roll:to move along or around in a circular or cyclical way
They used to roll jaffas down the aisle in wooden theatres.
The students’ knowledge grew as the weeks rolled by.

Who is a retch or wretch?

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Retch: the act of vomiting, or trying to
Just the smell of the rancid meat made them all retch into the bushes.

Wretch: someone you pity for their miserable state OR someone you despise and consider lowly and/or despicable
He threw some coins to the poor wretch beside the pier.
Then the rotten wretch set the house on fire with me in it!

This definitely is not a pair of words to get wrong – imagine implying someone you pity induces vomiting! The way to remember which is which is to use w for who – who is the wretch? The verb retch is not a person and doesn’t have a w!

Use real advantages…

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

When marketing, it is important to point out how your business (or product or service) is superior or different to others – in other words, why should people come to you?

This difference is often known as a unique selling point (USP) or a point of difference, and there are many ways to make use of it.

However, it is also important to show you are different by avoiding being the same. What do I mean by that? Well, if everyone in your industry talks about their compact products, don’t use the word compact – try space saving, small, minimalist or mini for instance.

Additionally, it’s not a good idea to use over-used words such as quality, value, fast and safe (see what Drew McLellan and others say on this in Drew’s recent blog post - he gives some good alternatives and the discussion is interesting.)

In writing as in business, being original and providing interesting content is likely to make more of an impact than being the same as everyone else. And making an impact may be just what you need to get customers to you rather than your competitors.

But when you are stating those great differences and reasons to use you, remember to be honest and only state real advantages rather than making up something your customers want to read.

It’s reigning outside

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Reign: period of leadership and power, especially for royalty.
During the reign of Henry VII, people mostly travelled on foot.

Rein: a tie to maintain control over another being
The horse rider kept tight hold of the rein in each hand.

Rain: water falling from clouds in the sky – a form of precipitation
The farmers are hoping for a lot of rain this month.