The best of the Red Jacket Diaries in 2017
As another year comes to a close, I’m looking back at the most-viewed posts on my blog in 2017. Did you miss any of them? As a freelance writer, I often talk about the various aspects of the indie life that I think others may be interested in: Reflecting on marking 26...
Your “About” page is the place to get personal
What are your passions? How long have you been in business and why did you start? If you have a business or personal website, sharing more about what makes you tick helps your visitors feel they know you, leading them to like and trust you. That’s why your “About”...
Don’t let jargon get in the way of trust
You can usually spot jargon at less than 10 paces, but it’s fun to have the option of The De-Jargonizer. Plug in a piece of writing, and this handy tool will highlight the jargony words you might want to replace. A report about Toys ’R’ Us executives giving themselves...
Watch out for these email fails
Some companies/people are still missing the boat on email. I have lots of evidence from my own in-box: The “From” field: “Unknown sender” (a Black Friday sale that doesn’t inspire confidence) “No reply @” (I guess you don’t want to hear from me?) Subject lines: “No...
Shopping for writers and readers? Here are 12 ideas
Some of my neighbours have had Christmas lights up for weeks. U.S. Thanksgiving is done like turkey dinner, and we’re hurtling towards the Festive Season. So, time for my third annual roundup of gift ideas for writers, readers and word-and-punctuation nerds. 1. “I’m a...
Wordnerdery: Help readers understand when you explain
Noise is a big issue around airports. A jet taking off can produce an average of 100 to 120 decibels. That’s as noisy as it is in the front row of a rock concert. If, like airports, your business makes noise that’s affecting your neighbours, you want to show that...
Is long the best length for a blog post?
Long? Really long? Or short? You’ll find all kinds of advice on the internet about how long you should make your blog post. This is top of mind these days with the results of Orbit Media’s 2017 survey of 1,000+ bloggers, which show: The average blog post is 1,142...
What’s the best length for my e-newsletter?
“How much content is too much content in a newsletter?” wondered reader Danielle Wintrip after my post with quotes about e-newsletters. Good question. The quick answer is that “too much” varies, but you’re best off keeping your e-newsletter short. With attention spans...