What’s In It For Me? WII-FM. Every marketing piece you produce must answer this question.That’s because your customers don’t care about you. They’re far more interested in themselves. If you hope to sell them your product or service, you must set your dial to WII-FM. In the March issue of SpaRetailer, a trade magazine for […]
[ Read more ]You’ve drafted a blog post, magazine article, non-fiction book, or novel. Now it’s time to weed out the “illegal” words – vague, filler words that clutter your story. Here’s an exercise to help you cut the wordiness from your piece: Choose an “illegal” word or phrase from the following list: very really rather just simply […]
[ Read more ]In Friday’s guest column, Geoff Hoff points out that using fiction techniques in your business blog posts makes your writing “more viscerally appealing to your reader.” I couldn’t agree more. I write non-fiction, but I read fiction (55 novels in 2009). As I inhale novels, I mentally dissect each one to learn how the author […]
[ Read more ]Seen inside a public toilet stall: Toilet out of order. Please use floor below. (My sons do that… and our toilet works.) On a readerboard outside a pre-school: This sign intentionally left blank, just like your child’s mind. (Should parents interpret this as a compliment or an insult?) In an office break room: After tea […]
[ Read more ]Did you know… …John Lennon was murdered December 8, 1980? … the computer mouse was developed December 9, 1968? … Emily Dickinson’s birthday was December 10, 1830? (a fact every poet should have memorized!) Whenever your blog post idea bank runs dry, consider writing an article that focuses on a historic event, date, or […]
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I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight.
Instead, I marked 10 words and phrases the author used repeatedly. Here they are, followed by my translation of each:
[ Read more ]When I was preparing a media kit for an author who’s written a book for addicts, I discovered the following question (which the author intends to be used in a media interview): Your book is over 200 pages long; surely the addict will get bored and roll joints with the pages rather than read them? […]
[ Read more ]In Home to Holly Springs, the latest installment in the best-selling Mitford Series, Jan Karon creates characters so real, you feel as if you’ve known them your whole life. She’s one of the few authors who can—in the course of one page—elicit both laughter and tears from me. Her books harken back to the good […]
[ Read more ]Sign of the times: Royalty publishing houses are getting into the self-publishing biz. I have mixed feelings about Thomas Nelson’s entrance into the world of self-publishing — so mixed at this point that I don’t dare write about it. So, for now, I’ll point you to two excellent articles that examine the how and why […]
[ Read more ]Update: In early 2012, Google removed the Wonder Wheel feature. I’m sad, because it was WONDERful. So this post is no longer valid, unless we can somehow convince Google to bring back the Wonder Wheel. Have you heard of a cool Google tool called the Wonder Wheel? It’s a great way to help you […]
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