I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!Tash
I’ve written a lot of blog posts and newsletter articles. Hopefully I’m not the only one who thinks there is valuable information amongst my writing and that people have learnt a thing or two from me!
So to reshare some of that past information, I see two options – copy it to make it appear recent or refer to it.
Copying old content
It is an interesting question – should you grab old content and just paste it in as a new blog post or newsletter article?
I prefer to offer new information so someone could theoretically read back through all my posts and not read the same piece twice.
I guess I’m a bit of a purist as pretending old content is new seems like cheating to me, but I accept that most of us need to save time – and it isn’t always easy to think of new things to write about.
However, I see bigger reasons to not copy old content forward. For one, my old content is still available where it is so anyone can search for it if they’re after that topic. It seems a little silly to copy it across so it could show up in twice in a search – and wouldn’t do my credibility much good, either. Then there is the duplicate content punishment it could potentially get from Google and friends.
Old content still has value despite technology advances
If we’re talking about a post from at least a couple of years ago, I would think an update is often a good idea anyway. Things change quickly in this technological age – an article on online marketing five years ago would have excluded Twitter and Pinterest so that article would be out of date and less valuable now.
Referring to old content
I much prefer referring back to old content.
In fact, I do it all the time by adding links to my blog posts and newsletters that lead back to older posts so people can get further, related information.
Instead of copying across an old post, I think it’s more valuable to link back to that post and expand on that topic or give an update. Going back to out online marketing example, I could write a new blog post along the lines of “Back in 2007 I wrote about online marketing. With the introduction and growth of new social media channels, it is now time to update my list of marketing options.” I don’t have to rewrite all of the old content because the link does that for me.
Social media itself provides another way to reshare old content – it is just as easy to tweet a link to an old post as a new one, for example.
Resharing my old content
At the start of each month, I send out my newsletter.
Starting now, at the end of each month I will look back at some old content from that same month (for example, in May I will refer back to something I wrote in May in a previous year).
Some of that content may need updating, other bits won’t as grammar and good writing doesn’t change the same way technology and business practises can.
So look out for some reshared ideas on Thursday…
And you?
How do you share your old content?
What do you think about seeing old content?
Is copying content across as if new a time saver or not-quite-right? Would anyone even notice?
This group of words will be more or less confusing depending on where you live; in Australia, root and route sound quite different so we get confused more by American TV and movies than in common speech.
Root [noun]: part of a plant that anchors it and sources nutrients for the plant; an anchoring structure or element such as the part of a hair under the skin and the underlying cause of an issue Carrots and parsnips are both root vegetables. It is the love of money, rather than money, that is the root of many problems.
Rout [noun]: an obvious defeat or unruly withdrawal of troops form a battle; a disorganised crowd, often rioting The General was not sympathetic to his officers after the rout last week.
Route [noun]: a path or means of travel; a designated area or path for a salesperson or franchise; the means of entry (generally used in medical situations) The cubs carefully planned their route with a compass and map. Sneezing is a common route of transmission for the flu virus.
To tell root and rout apart, remember that a rout is about the soldiers getting out of a loosing battle.
Of course, I should also mention that there is another (not so family friendly) meaning of the word ‘root’ in Australia – while it may be slang, it is well known and has caused many a laugh when international visitors use the word unwisely!
Sometime [adverb]:a not defined time, unspecified time
Defining time with minutes and year
I’ll finish the great Australian novel sometime.
Sometimes [adverb]: occasionally, from time to time Sometimes business owners think about going back to having a job.
Some time [phrase]: a period of time For some time I have been planning to write another eBook.
This trio is based on the same two words merged into one, or not, and all relate to time so the differences are subtle enough it isn’t surprising some people misuse them.
Left as two words to be the phrase, ‘some time’ is the most precise and considered of the three – and it has more precision required to separate the two words so maybe that will help remember when to use the phrase rather than an adverb.
This week, many Australian students have been sitting the NAPLAN tests. One of the tests is about writing and the students are given a topic to write an essay on.
For my daughter, this was her fourth NAPLAN experience. After a trial essay in class last week, she was panicking about the writing NAPLAN. Being told she’s good at writing essays didn’t give her any comfort until she finally told me she ‘had never written an essay in her life and didn’t know what one was’.
Throughout primary school and early secondary school, the kids have been taught various types of writing (I know I was never formally taught such a range as specific styles!) such as an argumentative piece, an opinion, instructions and a report. Yet no one had ever thought to tell all of them that an essay is just another term for a persuasive or argumentative piece!
Once I realised this was the issue, my daughter regained her confidence in essay writing and believes she did a good answer in her writing NAPLAN.
My children think of persuasive pieces, I think of essays – what do you call a piece of writing that covers a topic to make a case for their opinion?
Understanding jargon
Poor jargon use raises reader questions
When I went to school, we were never taught to write an argumentative or persuasive piece – we wrote essays. Technically, there is no difference but a change of terminology requires care.
If you teach kids to write persuasive pieces you can’t test them on essays unless you define and explain what an essay actually is – they have no experience of essays and figuring it out during a test is not good for their test performance.
By now, the link to business should be obvious! No matter what you are writing for a business or website, you need to be sure the intended audience will understand it.
In some contexts, using jargon is fine (for example, a doctor won’t write about an intestinal disease by saying the symptom is a sore tummy). However, it is still important to minimise the jargon use to be sure it is understood. Going back to our medical example, if a gastroenterologist is writing for a general medical audience she could use medical terms but perhaps avoid very specific terms that other doctors won’t know.
Naming and defining
Whenever you do use jargon or industry specific terms in a business context it is a good idea to define the term.
You may be able to define terms at the first use of it or perhaps have a glossary page which each use of the term can be linked to.
Adding definitions is a good idea even if you are confident your audience knows the jargon because:
it ensures your understanding of a term is the same as your reader’s understanding
it helps someone new to your field understand your content – a new doctor will know most of the jargon in an article but may need to check on some words for instance
having words defined on a website can help with your SEO efforts
it is useful for someone researching your topic. These people may not be your target audience but helping them can lead to good will – and some of those people may well enter your field later and remember who helped them learn the jargon in the first place
if there are two or three common terms for something, don’t assume everyone knows them all. Such as my daughter not knowing ‘essay’ and ‘persuasive piece’ are essentially the same thing or someone in NSW not knowing kinder comes before Prep in Victorian schools.
Does your website include definitions of words that are potentially difficult for you audience to recognise or understand? Have you ever reviewed your website for words and terms that may be considered jargon?
Headings (or titles) to blog posts and other online articles are important.
A good heading will entice people to read the post which means they will click on a link to it as well. So write a good heading not just within your blog but in the title you use for links to your blog post.
Anybody looking for information on a specific topic will be attracted by seeing those words in the heading. It will also stop uninterested people clicking through to your post (and this is a good thing if you are trying to reduce your bounce rate and not waste time and bandwidth on people who are not your potential customers anyway).
Including subject words also helps search engines summarise your blog post and determine its importance and relevance for any specific search term.
Here are a few examples to show how a subject word can help:
What I’m reading vs My top business books
Preparing dinner vs Planning nutritious meals
My hobby vs Bike riding for fun
Which of these headings do you think will show up in search engine searches for business books, healthy cooking and bike riding?
Another pair of words daily confused as people often don’t know the difference between allude and elude, or use them incorrectly anyway.
allude [verb]: indirectly refer to something Being discreet, the Principal will only allude to the incident when explaining the new policy to students.
Note that allude is an indirect reference so does not fit in a sentence such as ‘In summary, the details I alluded to are numerous but simple’ because giving details is not indirect – mentioned or referred would be better words in this instance.
elude [verb]: to escape or get away from The truant student continues to elude teachers and social workers. The manager’s name eludes me but I remember his jolly laugh.
Remember the e in elude and escape to help get these words in their correct context.
I do a bit of guest blogging, and I believe it is a mutually rewarding experience if done well. I certainly don’t think the host blogger is doing it all for the sake of guest bloggers as they also benefit from the arrangement.
Maybe the host blogger likes updating the blog without writing much themselves, maybe they like the traffic guest bloggers can bring or maybe they are basing their blog on a team effort to give a broader picture. Whatever the motivation, the host blogger benefits.
Accept posts graciously
I think it is plain good manners and a strategic decision to be nice to people who offer posts upon request.
Recently, I saw a blog request blog posts through BloggerLinkUp. I looked at the site and the topics covered, decided it was a good fit for me and emailed the blog with a post idea.
The response received left a sour taste in my mouth and I didn’t bother writing a blog post for him. The issues with the email:
he told me to read his ‘write for us’ page to see the requirements – he didn’t link to it or tell me how to find that page. At a quick look in his site menu and footer, I can’t see any related links so I left the site. It would had been easy to give me a link. It would have been easier to include such a link and requirement in the original request for blog posts
he didn’t use his name to finish the email – it made it all very impersonal and showed no attempt on his part to build a relationship. I no longer felt comfortable with him or his site, and certainly didn’t feel it was somewhere I wanted to regularly contribute posts to
this one is perhaps more personal, but I didn’t like his comment “I would publish your post if it meets the standard of this blog”. I felt he assumed I wasn’t up to the standard rather than assuming I am (sort of ‘capable until proven incapable’ is my usual approach). He didn’t acknowledge the topic I had suggested – who knows if that even met his unstated standards?
So if you want people to provide guest posts for your blog, or articles for your website or newsletter, try to build a relationship with those who offer you their writing – or at least send them a nice email response.
What sort of responses have you received from sending out or offering to write guest blog posts?
The biggest carbon tax cost impact for most Australian businesses will relate to increased utility costs – power and gas in particular. And the flow on of suppliers having to cover their increased utility bills.
Energy Action has an online calculator to help you estimate the impact on your business – just enter your current electricity and gas bills to get an estimate of your bills for the next 3 financial years.
The carbon tax is coming, power bills will increase and businesses have to deal with it.
In the fight to keep prices down but profits steady, I think adding green practices to your business can help. That is, if you can implement some changes that reduce your power bills, the carbon tax will have less impact on for expenses so you can maintain prices and profits.
As a test, I reduced my electricity consumption by 50 kWh to save $16.93 per month in 2013 and $18.71 per month in 2015. Prices jumped $3.55 per month in that period prior to my reduced consumption.
{I made up the consumption numbers just for interest and used Victoria as my state.}
Saving in business power
How can you reduce your power consumption by 50 or more kWh?
There are many ways to cut your energy consumption, but some I have done or am looking at include:
switch to energy saving globes
turn off lights, printers, copiers, monitors, etc at the end of every business day – and over lunchtime if everyone is out of the office
put on a jumper and turn down the heating
dress in cool clothes, use a fan and ensure circulation in the office so you can use the air conditioning less in summer
keep your equipment clean – dust in fans and filters can slow things down, risk overheating and therefore cost more to run
rearrange furniture to maximise natural light from windows to reduce the need for electric lighting
where possible, reduce the amount of sun hitting your windows in summer – plant deciduous trees outside or put up some shade cloth
only print what is necessary – many things can be read on your screen and stored on your hard drive. Saves in paper and ink costs, too
use kitchen appliances wisely – only add enough water in the kettle as needed but fill the dishwasher completely before use
where relevant and practical, encourage staff and clients to use manual doors rather than electronic doors and stairs rather than lifts – it’s healthier for them as well as saving electricity use
What other ways can you minimise the impact of the carbon tax on your business? Will you try to minimise the impact rather than pass on increases to clients?
There are two main reasons people visit a website – they want information on a topic or they want information about the business behind the site.
So why do some sites avoid sharing anything about themselves?
Add an about us page to your website and blog
As Chris Lake wrote, an about us page “is surely one of the only true rules of doing business online. I can think of no good reason why you wouldn’t have one.”
An about us page can be very simple but it can make a huge difference to people thinking of doing business with you.
For a stand alone blog, it lets readers know who is writing the posts – for instance, is it a business or an individual, is it by an expert or someone learning the topic, or is the blog focussed on a specific topic or just a collection of ideas.
For a business website, it can build enough credibility for me to do business with you – or not.
How ‘about us’ can build credibility
you are being open and transparent compared to making me wonder why you are hiding things – no name on a website instantly makes me suspicious
providing history shows the business is more than a fly-by-night – if you’ve been in business for a few years, you must have done something right!
explaining how the business began or the passion behind the business will certainly give me a believe in the intent of the business and its owners
introducing team members can give me an idea of what skills are available for me as a potential client
listing values or just writing a personal story can show the company culture
I have an about us page on my website and as part of my blog, even though they are on the same domain, so it is easy for people to read about me and my business. I wonder if I’m brave enough to ask if you have read either of them!
How important is an about us page when you are assessing a potential supplier or service provider?
While clearly pronounced differently, bizarre and bazaar are similar enough to cause confusion. Although it may simply be the spelling of each that confuses, rather than mixing the two up…
Bazaar [noun]: a marketplace with miscellaneous stalls and shops, especially in a Middle Eastern country; a shop or market selling a mixture of items; a stall or market where goods are sold as a fund-raising event Mireille strolled through the bazaar while waiting for friends in Lebanon.
Bizarre [adjective]: odd, obviously out of the ordinary and different, far-fetched, unexpected The teacher’s outfit was bizarre – a mix of cultures, colours and fabrics like I’d never seen before.
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