Are you thinking about producing a newsletter? Great idea! Here are some newsletter points to ponder, over at Advantis Communications.
Tag Archives: Newsletters
My grandma helps avoid the passive
Maybe it’s the influence of Legal departments, who prefer the blameless “mistakes were made” or “it was decided” to naming names. But corporate writers often have to fight for the active voice — you know, where the subject performs an action, like “The Legal department slashed my article to ribbons.” Instead, the passive voice creeps [...]
E-newsletters a great tool
While Facebook and Twitter continue to get all the press, email newsletters just keep building their solid reputation. In fact, they are “the Internet’s best tool for supplementing a website,” according to web usability expert Jakob Nielsen: “The positive emotional aspect of newsletters is that they can create much more of a bond between user [...]
Ditch the jargon
You know it’s a good idea to stay away from jargon, or what I like to call the “secret handshake” between insiders. Sadly, many people (many of them in high places) do not. My guest post at Advantis Communications is a reminder of why it’s a good idea to ditch the jargon.
Inclusive language post at Advantis
Well, this is exciting — I’m a guest blogger! Find out what I have to say about “inclusive language” in newsletters and other communications over at Advantis Communications. Oh, you know I have an opinion. Do you?
Write news releases without this lead
A client called yesterday in a bit of a panic, wondering if I could revise a news release for her by end of day. This is the kind of thing I often refer to as “pulling a rabbit out of a hat.” I was already juggling a number of projects, but this is a long-time, [...]
Newsletter points to ponder
I’m working with a new client who wants to introduce a newsletter for his customers, and I thought the discussions we’ve been having might be of interest to other people. So here are just some of the points to ponder if you’re thinking of a newsletter (either print or electronic): Purpose: What do you want [...]
Watch out for jargon 2
Among the many sports my family watched during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was one that vividly reminded me to watch out for jargon. I’m talking about curling. I’ve never curled, so I found the unfamiliar lingo quite confusing. The commentators talked about a runback double, draws and takeouts, a shot rock and a hammer, [...]
Newsletter memories
While cleaning out my files this week, I came upon a stack of back issues of a four-page print publication I used to write and produce as a volunteer for one of my networking groups for entrepreneurs. Before recycling the pile, I went through it and kept a copy of each issue, filing them neatly [...]
Watch out for jargon
When interviewing someone for an employee newsletter article, I always ask the meaning of unusual terms, acronyms (a word, like OPEC, formed from the initial letters of other words) and initialisms (a group of initial letters pronounced individually, like CBC). People often reply, “Everyone knows what it means” because they are insiders familiar with the [...]
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