Find beauty in each day
A post by Seth Godin led me to the transcript of a discussion with Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten. The topic was an experiment Gene conducted to see if violinist Josh Bell (incognito in a baseball cap) and his Stradivarius playing in a transit station could...
Can’t proofread? Have someone else read your work
It’s difficult to proofread your own writing. You’re familiar with the words and you can easily slide right over small mistakes. But don’t let difficulty stop you! I just received the monthly newsletter from my professional association. The front...
Be engaging, but resist the lure of your own writing
Writers should never fall in love with their own words, because the pleasure in capturing exactly what you wanted to say can disappear faster than a jerky treat in front of a Lab. I was reminded of this when my client called with the bad news that Big Executive wanted...
Little touches make the difference to your customers
Although the calendar says it is officially spring, the local weather is decidedly unspringlike — factoring in windchill, it felt like minus 9 C (about 15 F) on my one-hour walk this morning with my dog. So although I have put away my skis for the season, it...The indie life: Your life no longer awaits
At one time, radio ads for Workopolis (“Canada’s biggest job site”) featured various people talking about “the job that changed my life.” It was a great series, with both inspiring tales of jobs that led to interesting careers and...
A nice customer service follow-up
I just love those Nerds on Site. After my local Nerd, Graham, came to the rescue when I had problems getting on the Internet last week, I filled out a follow-up survey. (The top rating is “Nerdtastic!”) Today, I received a note from the head Nerds, John,...
How to cope with the indie’s rollercoaster life
The freelance life is a true rollercoaster ride. There are stretches of calm, measured work, maybe even not too much work. I like these because I know they won’t last and I use them to run errands, organize my office or occasionally goof off. The quiet times are...Resistance to acronyms is futile
Have you run across this one? “SSEWBA” — it’s short for “someday soon everything will be acronyms.” (It may already be happening in companies you and I know!) I thank Ragan Communications (their now-defunct Grapevine e-newsletter)...