by Sue Horner | May 27, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Wills are distasteful to begin with. You don’t want to think about someone dying, let alone squabble over who gets the investments and the heirloom silver, the stamp collection and the stacks of National Geographic. (I’m joking; we’re parceling out...
by Sue Horner | May 21, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Vivid images in your writing are the fastest way to give your readers that “aha!” moment of understanding. Common tools are analogies like metaphors and similes, which compare this new thing to that quite different thing. A metaphor expresses the...
by Sue Horner | May 14, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The independent life has its ups and downs, but every once in a while, you hit a real slump. It gets quiet. TOO quiet. Knowing that this, too, shall pass, as it always does, you have to keep doing all the right things. During my last slump, this included — you...
by Sue Horner | May 8, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Networking is an important part of finding customers. Is the way you introduce yourself helping land those customers? When it comes to getting people’s attention, “You have about as much time as it takes to start your car,” speaker Kevin Smith (aka The Story...
by Sue Horner | Apr 29, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The clever folks at The Bookseller, a British trade magazine, have a way with words and a good sense of humour. Exhibit A: The Oddest Book Title contest. I’ve written before about this funny contest, conceived in 1978 by The Diagram Group’s Bruce Robertson as a...
by Sue Horner | Apr 24, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This time of year, corporate sustainability reports bloom like algae in a lake. These reports show the efforts a company makes to do the right things for the environment and the community. However, the language that describes what they do is often thick with jargon....
by Sue Horner | Apr 20, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Gerry Lewis wants to help you stand out. “Everyone can be a better communicator if we just take it up a notch,” the author of SHINE: Stand Out. Get Noticed. Be Brilliant told a recent gathering of IABC Golden Horseshoe members and friends. Start by...
by Sue Horner | Apr 12, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Anything worth doing is worth doing with WOW. So says online retailer Zappos, which for years has been a name synonymous for great customer service. At least, that’s what I had heard. I hadn’t experienced it myself because Zappos no longer ships to Canada...
by Sue Horner | Apr 6, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
A friend has a LinkedIn profile, but beyond listing his title and employer, he has nothing — nothing! — to say what he does and how well he does it. He doesn’t even have a photo. Of course, I’m bugging him about it. “At least get a photo...
by Sue Horner | Mar 25, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
How do companies communicate with their employees these days, when so many don’t have a desk or a computer? How do you reach those who work in a mine, in the cab of a delivery van, on the sales floor? Since it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a...
