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Hello !*FIRSTNAME*!, This month has flown by - I hope yours has been a happy one! Recently I spoke to a group of new business women about using clear communications in your business. One aspect of my talk that seemed to hit home with those women was understanding your audience and making sure your writing meets their needs. What many people don't realise is that focusing your words for one audience doesn't mean you are ignoring other audiences. For instance, if I wrote an article for teachers about how to deal with bullying, a number of parents would also read it to use at home. I was marking some communications students' work last week and corrected one student for using principle instead of Principal. Only to find that the question (not written by me I hasten to add!) used the wrong word so the student was just following. Just a reminder that it pays to check your work carefully because you never know who will depend on it being correct! Use your words wisely! Tash PS Happy Mothers Day to you and your families :) Tash Hughes
Simplicity, clarity, singleness:
These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and
joy as they are also the marks of great art.
Clear communications You may well have heard or read about making sure your business communications are clear and professional. There are many articles and books explaining how to make your communications clear, and there are also professional writers and communicators who can help you achieve this. But do you value clear communication or understand why so many people recommend it? Giving your message The obvious advantage of clear communications is that people will easily understand your message. Your customers want to know how you can help them, but they don’t want to have to spend hours figuring out what you’re trying to tell them. Getting things done Clear communication is also important internally and with your suppliers. If staff and suppliers understand your messages, they will get the job done efficiently and your business moves forward. A clear ‘call to action’ in your marketing documents will have more results than a garbled message. For instance, “Call us now!” will result in more phone calls than “Sometimes people call us, but only if they want to.” The hidden message Apart the actual message your words are communicating, you tell a lot about you and your business by how you present your business in writing. By keeping your message simple and easy to understand, you are showing your customers that you are professional and trustworthy. Of course, if your message is jumbled and includes errors, you are showing that you don’t care about details so customers will think you won’t worry about details within your business either. Good communications build your reputation, your credibility and your relationship with customers, and all of these build your business
Books delivered to your door at less than RRP - that's my kind of shop!
Royalty vs copyright When you come across articles and photos that can be used on your website , in newsletters, etc for a small or no fee, you may come across the terms of royalty free and copyright. Do you know the difference between the two? A royalty is a payment made to an artist each time their work is sold; so an author or musician gets a royalty every time their book or CD is sold. Royalty free simply means you can use the artist's work without paying them every time you use it, nor do you have to pay a large fee to cover those payments. Copyright is an artist's right to own their work and have control on where and how it can be used. An artist can give/sell their copyright to someone else, but they don't have to do anything to actually have copyright on their work. The free articles many businesses make available for others to use are royalty free, but they are not copyright free. That means you can't change those articles in any way and must only use them under the terms specified where you got the article. In most cases, that means you must include the provided information about the author with the article. It also means that you can't sell the work, whether or not you give credit to the original artist.
Poor examples Sometimes, the easiest way to learn the correct way to do something is to see it done poorly so in this section of my newsletter, I show you some real-life examples of writing that need a little help. example: {issue- there is a
spelling mistake, grammar mistakes and poor use of English.} A better version would be: How do I organize a quote? * Note if I knew their products better, I would rewrite this entirely! You are welcome to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think will be interested, but please send it as is without changes. If you were passed this email by a friend, you can subscribe here. This newsletter is only ever sent to my clients and people who request the monthly newsletter & writing tips found at www.wordconstructions.com. Your email details will never be given, lent or sold to any party whatsoever and you are free to leave this service at any time by unsubscribing here. Important: This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender. Whilst Word Constructions has taken reasonable steps to ensure this email is virus free, it accepts no responsibility and makes no warranty. The recipient should take its own steps to ensure there is no virus. Word Constructions accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. |
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© 2007, Tash Hughes