TashWord

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Tash is a professional writer who loves helping people communicate clearly and effectively.

Choosing a charity

Published 10 January, 2008 | By TashWord

For a long time I have thought about having a specific charity to support through Word Constructions’ profits, but have just been too busy to select one. Not good, but that’s the way it is.

I have now found some possible donations and wondered which people would prefer?

If you were my client (or are my client, of course!), which of the following would you prefer me to contribute towards? Which is the most relevant/best suited to Word Constructions?

1. Money towards starting a business (yes, I know there are other places offering this, but if I wait to research them all it will take longer!)

2. School fees for a year in southern Africa

3. Literacy classes for adults in Cambodia

4. general donations to a specific charity (relating to starting a business or literacy) every 6 or 12 months (all of the above ones are individual gifts of $40 or less so I would make a number of them over a year)

I would really appreciate knowing what you think to help me make a decision! I might do another post soon to discuss the value of a charity associated with your business, so hold those thoughts, too!

Posted in About Word Constructions, bit off track | Tagged Charity, decision, donations, money | 4 Comments

Online magazine or newsletter?

Published 8 January, 2008 | By TashWord

I’ve had a client swap from online newsletters to paper ones recently and it got me to thinking about the relative benefits of a paper newsletter/magazine over an online version.

So, following on from yesterday’s discussion on blogs vs newsletters, today’s post is about online vs print for newlsetter

What are the benefits of a hard copy newsletter/magazine?

it’s easy to read – on screen reading is slower and harder, printing it yourself requires a printer and costs!
not everyone is online so a hard copy may expand your readership base, which is particularly important if you want to influence a wider range of people
many people find it exciting to get something in the mail, especially something that isn’t a bill!
it’s easy to mark your place if you can’t finish reading it in one sitting
it’s easy to make notes in the margins or underline specific points of interest
it can be stored for later use or handed to friends and colleagues
articles tend to be longer and more detailed in a magazine or printed newsletter which is great if you are after information

And how is an online version better?

it is very cheap to produce and distribute, and is therefore more likely to be available for free
it can be finished just before a publication deadline – hard copies need more planning – so can be more up-to-date
it can link to relevant resources, expanded information and the publisher’s website
it can be kept very short by just having article excerpts and linking to the main article online
the link/pdf/email can be passed onto friends

As a general rule, businesses will pay more to advertise in your magazine than in an online or email newsletter because it is the more conservative and better-known option, and it is more permanent.

Email newsletters become popular very fast because they were cheap to produce and could be sent straight to people’s computers. However, there are now so many email newsletters available that people become overwhelmed and don’t read all the emails they get. Additionally, there is so much spam flying around that legitimate newsletters and the like are often caught by spam filters and are not read.

So when contemplating what to do for your business, consider your budget, the purpose of your publication, what your market may like and how important it is for your newsletters to be read promptly. Remember, you can always do both or stop one if it truly isn’t working for you and your clients.

Posted in business info & tools, writing | Tagged magazine, newsletter, online | Leave a comment

Newsletter or blog?

Published 7 January, 2008 | By TashWord

Many small businesses find it challenging to prepare content to fill a monthly (or weekly) newsletter, so adding a blog to their to do list makes them question the value of having both.

Although the value of each will vary with each business according to its client base and product/service range, the following points may help you decide whether a blog, a newsletter or both is the best solution for you.

Newsletter

it reaches people’s inbox so they are reminded of you without any extra effort on their part
most people know about email but a lot don’t know about or like blogs
maintain consistency if you have had a newsletter for some time
it can seem more personal and intimate as it is not generally available online; it is a one-to-one relationship between you and many people, especially if you personalise each newsletter with their name
can be quite short and link to articles/products/news on your site or in your blog
can attract advertising revenue – advertising on blogs is less common (although this is changing)
can be passed onto to other people – they may well read a newsletter but may not get around to clicking on a link for a blog

Blog

easy to include up-to-date information
entries can be very short or as long as you like – variety in length is good but a variety in newsletter length may not be so positive
if on your domain name, it can greatly impact on your site’s traffic and ranking
people can access older posts easily
people can comment and give you feedback; you can build a community
individual posts can be linked to by other sites and other pages within your blog/site
a younger demographic may relate well to a blog

If you decide to run your own blog and newsletter, you can save yourself some time by

using information from one to fill the other – for example, your newsletter can refer to a blog post. However, don’t overdo the repetition as some people will read both
using articles from Word Constructions or article directories such as Evan Carmichael (not all Australian)
inviting guest bloggers to write for you
write things in advance – fill newsletters or pre-date blog posts so that you aren’t faced with thinking of a topic and writing it the day it is due out

Posted in blogging, newsletter content | Tagged blog, convieneince, newsletter, online | 6 Comments

Capital letters…

Published 4 January, 2008 | By TashWord

There are certain times when you must use a capital letter:

to start a sentence
for a proper noun (e.g. the name of a person, place or event)
in acronyms (e.g. the ATO, ASAP, TV)

The rest of the time, lower case letters are not only suitable – they are correct and preferred.

It Is Very Annoying To Read A Sentence Where Every Word Starts With A Capital Letter Isn’t It? And it takes more time and effort to type, too! Despite what some marketers would have you think, these extra capital letters do not make your message clearer or more important, and they certainly won’t bring in more sales. In fact, many people will see all those extra capitals and consider it a tacky attempt to manipulate them and therefore are less likely to even read their message.

It also just looks like you don’t know much about grammar or appearing professional.

And I’m not just talking about using capitals for every word, either. For instance, I received an email stating:

The first of these will address issues in Web Writing. The other two will focus on Web Accessibility: a half day Overview workshop and a full day Techniques Workshop. These are excellent programs.

There is no reason for ‘web writing’, ‘web accessibility’ or ‘techniques workshop’ to start with capitals – they are not proper nouns and shouldn’t be treated a such. As for ‘overview’, I can’t imagine why someone thought it needed a capital letter!

I find misuse of capitals bad enough – but for someone advertising a writing course, I expect much better than this! I wonder if they addressed the issue of using capitals in web writing – online, capitals are considered as yelling so really should be avoided in your web and email writing.

Posted in bad writing examples, grammar & details | Tagged acronyms, Capital letters, proper noun, start of a sentence | 4 Comments

Happy New Year

Published 1 January, 2008 | By TashWord

I wish you a successful and prosperous 2008, however you define successful.

A new year is the time many of us think about what we intend to do differently in the future and what we intend to strive for. And it is a good time to do this – not only does a new year open in front of us, but we are often refreshed and have more time than during the working year.

Many people disregard resolutions as a meaningless fad. While I don’t think it is the only time to make resolutions, and I agree many new years resolutions don’t survive beyond January, I don’t agree that they are meaningless.

Making a resolution just because it is 1 January and everyone is doing it – that perhaps is meaningless.

Making a resolution because you really want to make a change or improvement is a great thing.

My tips for making resolutions today (or at any time) that will last are:

make them SMARTY goals (I’ll outline them in another post, but essentially they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timed and WhY)
don’t set too many – one or two major resolutions per area of your life is plenty
write them down somewhere you can see them to be reminded frequently
consider telling a trusted friend so they can help keep you on track
set your own goals – don’t copy others or do what others think you should do

Other than resolutions, it is also a good time to clear out last year and start afresh. My New Year, New Business article has some tips on refreshing your business, so I won’t repeat myself!

Good luck with your resolutions and goals, and enjoy 2008.

Posted in bit off track | Tagged Happy New Year, resolutions, SMARTY goals, tips | 3 Comments

Need blogging help?

Published 28 December, 2007 | By TashWord

I have just found out that Simpleology is running a course on blogging (how to get one started and working well I believe.) What’s more, you can download a copy for free if you’re willing to blog about it yourself 🙂

So, here is the info from them:

Here’s a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:
The best blogging techniques.
How to get traffic to your blog.
How to turn your blog into money.

I have downloaded it so I’ll read it and review it here – but just in case it doesn’t stay free for very long I thought I’d better tell you now so you can grab a copy (you can always delete it if it isn’t any good!)

Posted in blogging | Tagged Blogging, course, free, Simpleology | Leave a comment

Dreams

Published 27 December, 2007 | By TashWord

So many of our dreams

at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable,

and then, when we summon the will,

they soon become inevitable.

~ Christopher Reeve.

I have read the first of Reeve’s autobiographies, which gives this quote even more power to my mind. The man struggled to do anything much after his accident, yet he exercised for hours every day (not exercise as the rest of us take for granted) so if he could keep reaching for his dreams, and get acting roles, and help charities and inspire people when he was immobile from the neck down…

I think we can take his ideas about dreams seriously and confront the difficult challenges with the belief we CAN do it.

~~~~~~~

My dreams story:

Some years ago, I had a dream of not working for anyone else. Then I had a mortgage and that dream seemed highly unlikely if not impossible. But I worked hard, saving money and reducing my debt, interest rates fell and I sold the shares I’d been given at work for a good price. The mortgage was no longer a reason to work for someone else.

But then I doubted I had a marketable skill so my own business was still improbable. Until I did a few writing/editing projects for friends and appreciated I had a skill with words that others valued.

Suddenly, I had a business doing something I love and working for myself was inevitable. And I wouldn’t give it up for a job, either.

What is your dream story?

Posted in bit off track | Tagged Christopher Reeve, dreams, story | 2 Comments

Merry Christmas!

Published 24 December, 2007 | By TashWord

I wish you the best of times over the festive season – lots of laughter, friendship, contentment, peace and gratitude.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow and take time to enjoy the people you love.

Merry Christmas!

* photo courtesy of Love Santa

Posted in About Word Constructions, bit off track | Tagged festive season, Merry christmas | Leave a comment

Check details – and check again

Published 22 December, 2007 | By TashWord

Let’s face it not everyone will notice or care about a couple of small spelling or grammatical mistakes. But getting the details correct is absolutely critical.

Make sure you go back and check details in your work – whether it is something you have written, a professional wrote for you or a graphic designer has worked on for you. Ideally, get someone else to check your document just for details.

If in doubt at how easy it can be to make such mistakes, here are some real life examples…

A marketing flyer for a local shopping strip where each shop added their ad looked great except for one little detail – they spelt the name of the suburb incorrectly! And I know because I saw the flyer in circulation so it went out without being corrected.
A course registration form included a second page with the following under the header:
Invoice Date: 18 December 2008
Event: Course Name, Melbourne – 20 February 2008
Obviously, prompt payment isn’t an issue with these people!
A business sent out invitations to an event that cost them a lot of money to arrange. The invitations were sent out stating a day and date that didn’t match so they risked many people not turning up.
500 business cards were printed with the wrong mobile phone number because no one checked the original source. Luckily, the problem was noticed before any cards were given out.
100,000 letterhead were printed before anyone realised the disclaimer mentioned another (related) company name. Could you afford this sort of reprint?
a book on small business quoted someone but used the wrong first name for her, which put her offside and made it hard for readers to research that woman
the male CEO of a Melbourne company was named in a photo in an industry magazine – however, the photo was a woman and the article was not even related to the CEO or his company.

So while you won’t be alone with such mistakes, your credibility is better if you take the time to make sure details are present and correct. The cost of not checking can be huge.

Posted in bad writing examples, grammar & details | Tagged check, details, mistakes, research | Leave a comment

Misuse of English

Published 20 December, 2007 | By TashWord

I found the following sign (posted in Germany’s Black Forest) to be a funny translation – at least I hope the translating is what caused the bad expression!

It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

I wonder what other sexes there are as men and women are only examples of the possibilities!

Want it written better?

Unmarried males and females must not share a tent in the Black Forest Camping Site.

Makes more sense and is simpler, but nowhere near as funny 🙂

Posted in bad writing examples, bit off track | Tagged amusing, bad expression, translations | 7 Comments

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