Communications is not rocket science or brain surgery. A lot of people can communicate. But strategic communications isn’t always easy. It takes thought and skill and training and time. Organizations run the gamut in terms of how much they value and support communications. Consider for a moment how you treat communicators in your organization. I [...]
It’s Which Word Wednesday. Instead of the usual training video addressing a specific set of often-confused words, today is a POP QUIZ! Lucky you! This is a great time to test your progress and see which lessons you might need to revisit. OK, here we go. In each of the sentences below, which word would [...]
When you’re working on a content project — whether that’s a large website, an e-book, a magazine or a blog — you might be responsible for hiring a content team to help with your copy. But what kind of help do you need, and what will your budget allow? Not all content professionals bring the [...]
Are you ready to start thinking about your 2018 content plan? You should be. If you haven’t looked at a calendar recently, let me be the bearer of some shocking news: This year is more than half over. And if you’re like a lot of marketers or bloggers, you have fallen behind where [...]
More Time Thinking = Less Time Doing In our constant push to get things done, it’s easy to move at a frenetic pace in marketing. Articles, blog posts, white papers, emails, podcasts, videos. Employees, media, investors, customers, social followers. So much to produce for so many audiences. How do we get it all done? Either [...]
It’s Which Word Wednesday. Instead of the usual training video addressing a specific set of often-confused words, today is a POP QUIZ! Hooray! This is a great time to test your progress and see which lessons you might need to revisit. OK, here we go. In each of the sentences below, which word would you [...]
Can you use passive voice? Sure. Should you? Maybe. (photo by Thinkstock) When your company name is Active Voice Communications, you invariably get questions about active and passive voice. Do you never use passive voice? Do you hate it? Is it just absolutely the worst thing ever? No, I don’t hate it. [...]
(Photo by Thinkstock) In my early journalism career, I worked as a copy editor and wrote numerous headlines (good, brilliant, cute, meh) for newspapers and magazines. I’ve worked in marketing and public relations and have written countless headlines for articles, reports, brochures and blog posts. As communicators — whether we are in [...]
You’re buried. You’re short on time and long on demands for content. It’s time to hire a freelance writer or two to help you out of this jam. If you’ve never hired a writer before, this might seem daunting. One of the most important things you can do is to make sure you know what [...]
Trust is a tricky, delicate thing. (Thinkstock) We live in strange times. I don’t have to tell you that. Our level of trust for essential institutions is eroding. And that’s a serious problem. But, of course, trust is a tricky thing. It’s personal. It’s subjective. It takes a long time to build and [...]
