Spending hours to save pennies on insurance
For years, I stuck with the same car insurance company. I thought being a valued customer – they assured me I was! – would mean saving money. My insurance costs should go down for all kinds of reasons: The Ontario government introduced legislation that is supposed to...
Forgive me for suspecting lawyers are paid by the word
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...
Get an ‘aha’ moment with analogy
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...
In a slump? Here’s how to dig out
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...
Capture attention and interest with your elevator speech
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...
Niche reads and odd titles in quirky contest
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...
Before & after: 4 ways to simplify your sustainability report
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....
Take control of meetings to shine
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...