Maine Creative Services

Want to get people to pay attention to your memos, slides, sales letters — all your written business communications?

Then scuttle those lame adjectives, and replace them with strong “action” nouns and verbs. Ruth Walker has a great tip in the Verbal Energy blog: Think like a newspaper headline writer.

“Before there were flying thumbs punching messages into the tiny keyboards of (Blackberries), there were forceful forefingers hunting and pecking their way across the keyboards of manual typewriters. Long before you ever typed ‘btw, r u going 2 see me l8r?’ into your cellphone,” copy editors had learned to churn out tight, attention- grabbing headlines using powerful verbs:

• Red Sox blast Rangers
• N.W. utilities hail energy act
• Admiral’s comments about submarine base irk local congressmen
• Vandals vex vehicle owners

“Blast” is so much stronger (and shorter) than “defeat.” “Irk” is more telling than “annoy.” And “vex” would be a colorful choice, even if it didn’t add to the catchy alliteration. (Note: these words are fine for written communications, but probably wouldn’t work in speeches and presentations.)

To get people to pay attention to your message, choose catchy, colorful words that catch the eye and ear. They help you pack maximum meaning into the fewest possible words.

OK, Mazda, here’s your choice:

A. Replace the customer’s defective car now (cost: $30,000), or
B. Wait and cough up $300,000 later.

Guess which Mazda chose?

A simple conversation (a/k/a/ better business communication) could have resolved this mess 3-1/2 years sooner, salvaged a customer relationship, built great PR — and saved the company a quarter of a million bucks. What a waste…

PS: Thanks to Obscure Store for the link.

Seth Godin has some good insights into one of the things that’s wrong with business writing today.

There are two kinds of writing, Seth explains. If you’re writing for strangers, keep it short. To the point. Don’t answer unasked questions. (I’d put it this way: Don’t be a bore.)

However, if you’re writing for colleagues (who presumably need to know what you’re telling), go into detail. Be clear, be specific. I would also suggest using lots of examples and anecdotes to help make your points. (But hey, Seth is the master of story.)

I’d suggest the same approach is valid when you’re writing sales letters, brochures, web site copy, etc. Write one version for “strangers,” cold calls, people who might be a little curious but are not “interested.” In it, just cover the highlights. What’s in it for them. The big picture (with benefits). Not much detail.

That’s the “postcard” version.

But for those who express an interest or want to know more, pull out (or link to) a second letter, brochure or web page that goes into much greater detail. That “second stage” document is the place to go deep. Go on, spill it all. Add a nice photo or illustration, too — perhaps the widget in action or being used by some satisfied customer. Add testimonials, too. Maybe a well-designed chart with specs and stats, if appropriate.

Try to anticipate — and answer — all the questions of someone who is now very interested. Tell them why they should be interested and excited about your service or product. Anticipate their objects, and rebut them.

If I’m a potential customer, and I’m interested — and getting emotionally involved (as good sales writing must do) — I want my questions answered now.

Fact: Emotion triggers the decision to buy. But people also need to justify their decision with logic and information. So good business writing always provides both. Plenty of information and logical justification to satisfy your left brain. Plenty of emotional appeal to seduce the right brain.

Keep that in mind when crafting your next sales letter, brochure, web page.

I’ve written more on this topic. Check out my web site, www.MaineCreative.com. Questions? Comments? Post away!

Despite the rough seas and occasional storms we face, business owners like me love steering our own ships. Being the captains of our fates. Standing up and (warning: mixed metaphor ahead) taking our best shots.

OK, most of the time, anyway.

This is confirmed by a new survey from the Wells Fargo/Gallop Small Business Index. It found two-thirds of small business owners it surveyed are satisfied with the balance between their personal lives and work schedules. Sure, we put in long hours, an average of 52 hours a week. But we’re doing what we love — hopefully. (If you’re not, pick a different business.)

Other stats, according to the survey:

• Over 50% of small business owners work six days a week. Over 20% work seven days a week.
• 14% took no vacation days in a year.
• Almost 40% of those who do take personal time off said that they still answer work- related phone calls and email while on vacation.

Now, if I were somebody’s employee, I’d hate those working conditions! But as small business owners, they don’t bother us that much. After all, we’re the ones who gain if the biz thrives. Almost 90% said they were generally satisfied with being a small business owner.

Take another look at that last stat: Over 90% of small business owners are pretty satisfied running their own show. Despite our constant grumbling, most of us wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Aside: Do you work in an office? Just for laffs, take a quick survey of your fellow cubicle dwellers. See if 90% are “generally satisfied” with their jobs. How many even like their jobs (if they’re being honest). 50%? 20%? 80%? I’d love to hear what you uncover. Post a comment and let me know.]

I guess it all boils down to doing what you love — or loving what you do. (Either way works fine.) I, for one, spend a ton of hours at my work — because, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s sometimes hard to tell if I’m really working or not.

Laine Caspi, owner of Parents of Invention, echoes that idea. It’s “not just a willingness” to work more hours. “It’s more like — you want to do it,” Caspi said. “It’s a choice, as opposed to someone else saying that you have to be there.” Link

What do you think?

Inc. says happy days are ahead. Why? The magazine put it this way:

“The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter-point for the tenth straight time Tuesday, lending credence to reports that the small business climate is improving. ‘If you are a small business owner this is a signal that you should be bullish,’ according to one economist.”

Yeah, right. Higher rates generally have small biz owners dancing in the aisles…

From Business Blog Consulting:

Jennifer Rice, who runs Mantra Branding, has been blogging since December 2003. She writes:

I recently got a project from a Fortune 50 company from my blog… it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for my consulting business!

Rick Bruner adds, “If ever there was a reason to blog, for consultants, anyway, there it is.” Amen!

OK, Fortune 50 companies — operators are standing by at Tom McKay World Headquarters.

PS: I’d give Jennifer a link, but she hasn’t posted on her log in over a month. Guess that big gig is keeping her busy!

Imagine adding 2.5 million new customers — IN A SINGLE MONTH!

That’s what happened to India’s booming wireless phone sector in July. And that’s despite monsoon rains that wreaked havoc in Bombay, India’s largest city and a top market for cellular services. (I wonder how many more would have signed up, if it had been “beach weather?”)

Overall, mobile phone carriers had 60 million customers at the end of July. And don’t you know half of them will be sitting behind you at the movies or at the next table this weekend?

Link