A style guide is simply a set of rules as to how your business produces it's communication materials (including website content, letters, emails, marketing documents and promotional articles.)

By having a style guide, you can ensure everything you present to customers and potential customers is consistent and supports your brand. For instance, if someone reads a formal letter from you then visits your casual website, they will notice the difference and probably feel uncomfortable with it.

Style guides can be in bullet point on one page or they can be comprehensive manuals - it depends on the needs and size of the business. If you want a style guide, you can always start with the key points and slowly build it up as you gather further information to include.

Next month, I will cover some of the items commonly included in a style guide.

** If you are interested in starting a style guide in your business, I have a basic style guide template available for purchase. It will soon be available on my website, but for now you can obtain a copy by emailing me.

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Henry Ford

I have seen copyright mis-spelt on many occasions, including by people who should know better.

Copyright is simply a group of laws and rules governing who has the right to copy someone else's work. The work protected by copyright includes music, art and graphic design, not just written materials.

In itself, jargon is not a bad thing as it can make communicating with others in the field quicker and easier; compare saying ‘10 bytes’ to ‘ten strings of eight ones or zeros used to describe data’.

However, when used outside of the relevant field, jargon can be confusing and hinders understanding. It can even be used to make the outside person feel inferior because they don’t understand the jargon.

In clear communications, jargon must be avoided if the audience may not know it.

For additional information about jargon and how to reduce your use of jargon, pleas read the full article here.

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