Fine-tune your LinkedIn profile to open doors
(Updated September 11, 2018) Do you want to stand out among the 560+ million people who are members of LinkedIn? Well, sure you do! LinkedIn acts as an online resume, positions you as an expert and opens doors to new contacts and new business. At a meeting of...
Thoughtless words do more damage than you know
Can a heart ache with sadness and swell with pride at the same time? Yes, especially if your son writes a wrenching, powerful piece describing what it was like growing up a gay sports fanatic. Matt came out to family and friends a few years ago, which already took...
A reminder about why you need balance
Work will always be there; just be sure to stop every once in a while and celebrate your successes. That’s what I told a friend this week who was struggling with that feeling of being on a hamster wheel, trying to catch up with never-ending work. It’s also...
Chewability, cowpats and more expressive writing
“I grew up sort of basted in words.” That wonderful evocative sentence comes from Richard Bach in The Bridge Across Forever. The line explains his childhood, where his father read stories in German – translating as he read – and the boy’s mother...
12 tips for reducing email overload
And you thought your in-box was already overflowing. These days, many bloggers suggest people subscribe by email rather than to an RSS feed. Canada Post is encouraging consumers to sign up for epost, to get bills by email rather than snail mail. And businesses see the...
Start your business already! Here’s some advice
Are you interested in starting your own business? As companies think about calling all employees back to a physical office, rumour has it that many people are planning to quit. This may be the spark that lights your simmering entrepreneurial passion. After working...
Fight for readability with five easy fixes
The easier we make it to read our newsletters and other material, the more people will read, understand and retain. Sometimes copy reviewers – engineers and lawyers spring to mind – will challenge you. They’ll try to turn simple words into stilted, formal...
Seven pet peeves about Twitter use
I’m not the first to post about Twitter pet peeves, and I won’t be the last. But given that Twitter launched in 2006, it’s about time to get rid of some bad habits. Beyond the basic offenses like having an egg for a profile photo, no bio to speak of...