Shorter Is Better

Most people think of "rushing about" as a modern dilemma. But though faster technology and unlimited options have exacerbated "hurry sickness," dislike of "wasted time" has been around for quite a while. The classic composition booklet Elements of Style, first published in 1918, urges writers to avoid wasting readers' time with "needless words": "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

A sure way to offend magazine editors is to submit a manuscript with the comment "I know you don't normally publish stories of over 1,000 words, but I'm sure you'll find this 3,000-word piece is worth making an exception for." Such approaches frequently come from writers who haven't even bothered trying to shorten their first drafts. And the temptation is even worse in business writing, where there are no official word counts, no obvious immediate rejections, usually more of a sense of "rush," and (in e-writing) no extra expense involved for additional length. No extra expense in terms of print costs, that is. One can only guess how many potential customers lose interest after one glance at the infinitesimal size of a screen-height bar, or give up in disgust after two rambling paragraphs.

The #1 hint for concise business writing is Take time to edit. First drafts always ramble; it's unavoidable.

Some other (short and sweet!) hints:

• The word that, and phrases containing it ("the fact that," "it occurs to me that"), are among the most dispensable items. Ditto for qualifier adverbs such as usually, frequently, and very.
• Active voice ("Tom brought the salad") is more concise and stronger than passive ("The salad was brought by Tom").
• Replace adjectival phrases with nouns, and adverbial phrases with verbs. ("Prodigy" instead of "brilliant young man," "sprinted" instead of "ran quickly.")
• Keep a thesaurus handy; it cuts words wasted trying to achieve precise descriptions.
• Keep your topic or thesis narrow, and remove any sentences (or paragraphs!) that don't relate to it.

Hope this post was short enough!

Not All Articles Come in Series

Stand-alone articles (as opposed to those published in magazines or newsletters) have been around for a long time in the form of white papers, tracts, and pamphlets, but in the online age such publications have really come into their own. Now, everyone with a Web site or social networking account can freely post company anecdotes, helpful hints, and top-ten lists. And these articles can be written as long or as short, as frequently or as sporadically, as the needs of the situation call for.

Of course, sometimes it's useful to have a hard copy in hand, and a simple printout isn't always enough. Particularly if you need handouts for a trade show or want to give clients something easier to handle than an 8 x 11" sheet, the professionally printed booklet or brochure can do wonders for your "businesslike" image. Even if you have to hire a professional graphic designer and make sure the number of pages is divisible by 8, it may be worth it.

In either case, as with any business writing, you need a specific purpose for your project. And whether you're introducing your business--or your latest product or service--to the public, providing news on your industry as a whole, or giving out helpful hints related to your field of expertise, there are principles that apply to every stand-alone article.

Shorter is usually better--and the longer the article is, the less it should state outright what the sponsoring company wants. Not only do people have short attention spans, but the more focused an article is on "selling them," the faster they get bored. That's why advertorials run only one page and feature articles don't include "buy now" appeals.

Use lots of subheads. Article readers like to skim for key points, and anything that makes that easier is welcome.

Bulleted and numbered lists nearly always get favorable attention. Their "sound bite" approach and the white space they leave on the page gives an impression of "efficient and uncluttered."

Visuals may be more expensive than all-text, but often the greater appeal is worth it. Try to use visuals with Web articles, at least, where cost is far less an issue.

Lifelike visuals score highest. Photographs usually trump drawings, especially when the subjects are shown smiling and acting natural. People always trump objects. If your article topic is something like "keeping the wilderness wild" and you don't want to show people stepping on nature, include shots of active living creatures--not just plants and rocks.

If you aren't talking about your company directly in the text, don't forget to include your logo, mission statement, and contact information. Keep it inconspicuously at the bottom of the back page, though. In the interest of good public relations, every business should occasionally give away some free information related to its field of expertise, but making the source too obvious (e. g., explaining every two paragraphs that you specialize in solving such problems professionally) gives a "back door sales" impression that irritates readers.

Also to avoid annoying readers, don't serve up mixed purposes in the same article. Sales on one page, news on the next, and everyday advice on the third works fine in magazines, but a single article--even a booklet-length one--needs a single purpose. Like the short story that shifts point of view every third paragraph, a multi-purpose article will soon have readers wanting to throw the thing across the room to relieve the frustration of trying to figure out where their primary mental focus belongs.

Articles can be extremely useful as public relations or sales tools. Like all tools, they are most useful (and safest) when handled in certain ways.

What Good Is It, Without Immediate Return?

"Everyone says it's a great idea, but no one uses it" sums up much of the business world when it comes to blogs. For every entrepreneur who is successfully producing such electronic articles on a regular basis, there are likely ten whose efforts remain forever in the planning stage, stay perpetually sporadic, or die within three months.

Probably the top reason given is "not enough time." And cranking out a thousand or more words per week does take time (no matter how many non-writers think in terms of "dashing something off"). Still, I know several business owners who run highly profitable solo enterprises and still find time to turn out three or four blog posts a week, while many businesses with decent-sized staff pools are still planning to "get around to it someday." And anyone who really considers something a high priority will make time for it--or hire someone to do it.

So why do blogs and other e-articles, popular as they are in theory and given the number of successful businesses that swear by them, sink to the bottom of so many priority lists?

Probably because of a widespread tendency to judge everything by immediate and obvious results. It can be hard not to think in terms of "Getting people interested in what we do and what we know is all well and good, but shouldn't we devote the bulk of our resources to encouraging them to buy immediately? Where's the return on investment in giving out free health hints or telling funny stories about what it took to develop our new product?"

Some businesses decide that the best solution is to make one item serve both purposes, and create "blogs" that are really loosely disguised advertising campaigns. It seldom works; readers get bored with sales pitches far faster than with articles. In nearly every case, the two should be kept distinct.

What can a business reasonably expect from a well-written, consistently produced blog?

The building of long-term relationships. As people have always had their favorite magazines, they now have their favorite blogs. And as people rarely buy a magazine for the purpose of reading the advertisements, few will follow a blog primarily for the purpose of learning what the host can sell them.

Higher attraction value--and higher frequency tolerance--than advertising. Many people find their favorite blogs through Web browsing for information on a specific topic. Links to interesting e-articles are frequently forwarded on a casual "thought you might be interested" basis, whereas few people forward information on purchasable items unless (1) they have direct experience with the item or particularly long-term experience with the company, and (2) they immediately think of someone who is specifically looking for an item of that nature. Moreover, readers are generally glad to see a new blog installment, whereas advertisements frequently evoke a "quit bothering me" reaction.

A building of your reputation as dependable, consistent, and caring about more than the public's money. When a blog keeps to a steady posting/delivery schedule, every new installment sends the message "We can be counted on to deliver what we promise, when we promise." And if you regularly offer helpful or interesting information from your field of expertise, rather than simply talking about yourself, you also send the message "We care about your needs even when we don't immediately profit from them."

What you can't expect from most blogs is instant profit or instant new customers. Well-run businesses have both short-term and long-term goals; both are equally important, and the "article" approach serves the latter. It's worth the effort. Thinking entirely in the short term--the "putting out fires" approach--often means that the business itself will be short-lived.

If the long term is important enough to you to rate a large investment in a professional writer, you might even aim higher and create a full-length newsletter or e-zine. Visit this link (3/30/10 post, "Quick Quiz: What's Your Strongest Tool for Turning Prospects Into Clients?") and this one to learn from those who found it worth the time and trouble.

Conversely, you may appreciate the value of the business blog or newsletter but not be quite ready for a firm regular schedule. Or you may want to produce a piece that's too long for a blog but wouldn't really fit into a newsletter. The solution there is the informational brochure or booklet (electronic or print), which will be discussed in my next post.

Blog, Newsletter, Brochure, or Social Network Article?

Today's post will begin a series on how to use blogs and other articles to your professional advantage.

Every business should regularly provide some written item that falls outside the category of "sales material": it keeps stakeholders informed, reminds past and potential customers you exist without seeming pushy, and--especially if you talk about things besides yourself--provides information worth passing to others who wouldn't heard of you otherwise. But many such projects die in utero or prove more bother than help, because of poor planning.

The first thing to plan is what form your "helpful written information for the public" will take. Blogs offer the advantage of being both concise and frequent. Traditional newsletters project the image of a conscientious business that takes itself seriously. White papers or e-brochures, posted on a social networking site and/or a business's Web site, work well for businesses that prefer not to keep a strict schedule. Many companies use the integrated approach, including all of the above.

If, however, you're picking just one to add to your marketing mix, consider the following before jumping in.

With blogs and newsletters, the length of each installment should be inversely proportional to the frequency with which installments appear. Blog posts run 1-5 times per week and less than 1,000 words. Newsletters equalling 8 or fewer printed pages are best produced monthly. Magazine-length newsletters should come out on a quarterly schedule. You want to give subscribers time to read one installment before the next appears!

Start small. Many newsletters don't get past the planning stage because a business tried to make them too long and ran out of information to fill them--or of time to assemble the information into a coherent, well-written product. For the same reason, if you want to make your blog/newsletter/articles an effective public relations tool:

Seriously consider outsourcing the work--or hiring a full-time writer. Don't fall into the "anyone can do a decent job of writing" trap and assign the project to whoever can scrape enough time from other duties to throw it together. No less than computer maintenance or building inspection, this is a serious part of your business and deserves professional treatment.

Don't post one of those "hiring blog writers for 10 posts a week at $20 each" ads, either. Top-quality writers who work under such terms are rarer than dollar menus in five-star restaurants, and even capable amateur writers won't do their best work at such high speed--not if they need to leave time in their schedules to earn a real living. You might as well assign the job in-house and at least save the $200--though you'd be better off using it to hire a real professional for one post a week. Quality definitely trumps quantity here.

Consider your audience. Who, exactly, do you hope will read this? What age, gender, religious, and ethnic categories do they fall into? What are they already reading regularly--print newspapers, social networking sites, trade journals? How much time do they spend online? To ensure an interested audience, keep your new product close in form to what they already use or enjoy.

The next post will talk about what to expect--and not to expect--from a written-information project.

Asked to Write a Referral?

As a businessperson, you will write much to promote yourself. As a successful businessperson, you will probably be asked someday to write something that promotes someone else: a letter of recommendation for college, a job reference, a letter of introduction to a professional association.

Assuming this is someone you honestly can recommend and that there are no company policies keeping you from going into detail, by all means tell the college/business/association how fortunate they would be to have this person. Here’s how to make a good impression on your “recommendee’s” behalf:

Be specific. Sure, every administrative department wants students and staff to be honest and hardworking, but the adjectives by themselves don’t mean much. Give specific examples: “In October 2008, Ms. Spencer designed and implemented a new software program that cut our order-processing time by 20 percent.”

Be concise, but not too concise. Think minimum one full page, maximum two pages.

Be positive. People are wary of those who write recommendations simply to get persistent applicants off their backs; evident reservation tempts readers to suspect something is seriously wrong. If you think someone’s shortcomings would affect his ability to function in the position applied for, you shouldn’t be writing him a recommendation in the first place. Otherwise, let him worry about answering the “tell me your greatest weaknesses” question once he gets the interview.

Don’t gush, however. Being too positive arouses as much suspicion as being tentative. If you can show specific ways an applicant has improved in certain areas, that’s ideal.

Focus on qualities that can be transferred to the position applied for. If you supervised a college applicant during her three-month summer job archiving church records, mention her dependability, attention to detail, and other academic-relevant qualities. Unless the college she’s applying to is extremely conservative, they aren’t likely to care much that she is also a third-generation member of the church and hasn’t missed a service since she had the flu in fifth grade.

Be sure that you do, in fact, understand what is relevant. If you have any doubts, the person who requested the recommendation—assuming he’s serious enough to deserve it—is likely to be your best source of information.

Do proofread your reference before sending it. Preferably, let it “cool” a week before the final edit. This is, after all, something with potential to significantly affect someone’s future.

Make up your mind not to take it personally if your reference doesn’t “work.” However good your letter of recommendation is, the person you recommend may not get into the school or be hired for the job. Or he may decide he prefers some alternative, which he didn’t ask your recommendation for. There could be any number of reasons; don’t waste your time trying to find out what they are. If nothing else, you got some valuable writing practice from this.

References are a part of professional life; you may even need one yourself someday. Treat them with the respect they deserve.

Appearances Do Count

When you receive an e-mail ad full of all-caps words and with line breaks apparently inserted at random, how likely are you to buy the product?

When someone hands you an advertising brochure printed on cheap paper and using a different font for every line, how seriously do you take the sponsoring company?

The delusion that one’s genius shines through the sloppiest communication is amazingly widespread among beginning entrepreneurs. Those who don’t outgrow the attitude quickly become “new businesses fail within two years” statistics.

Several past posts (see March archives) have already discussed proofreading of actual text, so I’ll focus here on other visual aspects of written communications. If you want blogs, sales letters, and advertisements to make you look conscientious and competent, remember the following points:

For hard copy:

• Use reasonably heavy paper (it looks sloppy to have text showing through, especially on two-sided brochures). And make sure the paper is fresh and clean.
• Make sure there is sufficient toner to produce crisp print; smudged or faded text and illogical coloring make communications look amateurish, if not cheap.
• For letters, use only white or beige paper and black text. Eye-catching colors are more acceptable in ads, but stick to pastel backgrounds and dark text; light-on-dark and bright-on-bright is hard on the eyes.
• For trifold brochures, make sure each visual item is clearly contained within a single panel or spread—and that both sides have the same top edge!

For e-mails:

• Avoid special formatting unless you know the recipient’s box can handle it. Few things are more visually annoying than the result of a computer’s attempt to translate colors and graphics to a plain-text-only window.
• Don’t use all-caps for emphasis; it’s the electronic equivalent of screaming.
• Try to stick to one screen’s worth of text.
• Always use BCC with multiple recipients, unless they form a small, tightly-knit group. Aside from the issue of advertising everyone’s e-mail to who-knows-who, scrolling through three screens of addresses to reach the main text is a major nuisance.

For Web pages and blogs:

• Use short pages, short paragraphs, and wide margins.
• Remember that while Web users like graphics, they hate it when something downloads slowly or not at all.
• For visuals, use photos (not clip art) that show your business in action or display its products.
• Use eye-friendly color combinations of background and text, even more important here than in hard copy. Ten paragraphs of white-on-navy, or gold-on-white, are agony to the eyes on a computer monitor.

For everything:

• Make sure margins line up logically and space between paragraphs is equal. (Check visually; printers and word processors can do strange things).
• Remember that fancy fonts have no place in letters. Even in ads, atypical fonts make a poor impression if they are so squiggly or tiny as to be unreadable. And remember that boldface/italic, or different-from-the-rest-of-the-text fonts, are best reserved for section headings.
• Remember that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression!

Doing without Visual and Voice Cues

Having discussed “touchy situations” in the last post, I have to admit that such situations—and many others—are often better dealt with face to face than in writing. Researchers estimate that people form 55 percent of overall impressions from visual cues, 38 percent from tones of voice, and a scanty 7 percent from actual words used. So when writing, we have to work more than ten times as hard to get a point across.

Still, there are times when writing is necessary—to address larger segments of the public than can be met with directly, or to communicate on subjects you find so touchy that you doubt your ability to maintain a professional demeanor. One advantage of the written word is that it lets you take things back before they get anyplace where they might do damage. (Also, if you feel like communicating something at 4 a.m. without getting dressed, no one need know.)

To compensate for being deprived of visual and voice cues:

Be certain to include all essential facts—and to get them straight. Outside of instant messaging, writing makes quick clarification on confusing points impossible. Worse yet is the message that clearly communicates wrong information—“off by one digit” can literally mean “off by a mile” when sending important addresses.

Choose strong, descriptive words. “Forty-story building” is easier to visualize than “skyscraper”; “customers seeking refunds” paints a clearer picture than “dissatisfied customers.”

Don’t, however, use “loaded language.” Calling people names always reflects badly on you—even when the message’s recipient isn’t your target.

If what you’re writing is intended or likely to have a significant impact, let the message “cool” for at least one full day before editing and sending it. Not only is the second draft always better than the first, longer gaps between the two equal greater improvement.

Don’t expect anyone to automatically realize you’re “just joking.” The reader won’t see the grin on your face or hear the light tone of your voice. Before sending a message, consider it at face value; the recipient definitely will.

Don’t rely on emoticons or acronyms to clarify your intent, either. It looks overly casual for most business communications; it may cause “translation problems” between plain text and graphics; it can be confusing (not everyone knows that “LOL” means “Laughing Out Loud”); and, like expressing anger with generic profanities, it’s frequently the lazy way out of looking for appropriate words.

Consider your recipient. Slang and clichés are fine with family or close friends, but a bad idea with anyone you want to impress professionally.

Don’t get so formal as to be stuffy. Hardly anyone writes “I will not” for “I won’t” anymore. You do want it to be obvious that your message was written by a human being!

Making a good impression takes work, but it’s worth it. A little careful attention to detail goes a long way, even when you have only words to work with.

To help business owners promote themselves as experts in their fields, Spread the Word Commercial Writing is offering a special of one free e-article to catch your ideal client’s interest. Contact katherine@spreadthewordcommercialwriting.com for details.