The Case for Contractions

From memos and emails to reports, websites and blogs, you should use contractions in all your business communications. If you're not doing so already, you should start changing that today.

Why? 

Modern life and work environments are far more casual than they were just a decade ago. Speech is more casual, attire is more casual, and working relationships are less formal. Online and digital communications are also significantly more casual and interactive than the paper-based communications of the past.

Ditch the Dots

Thanks to the internet, we can easily share information, highlight new products, explain processes, and engage customers and prospects on a global scale. For better or worse, we can also see what others are doing and quickly integrate new trends into our own communications.

The rampant use of ellipses (...) is an unfortunate trend that's spreading like wildfire. These dot-dot-dots are popping up everywhere from letters and emails to blogs, websites and product descriptions.

A recent example was brought to my attention because it was from someone seeking employment in the communications field. Presumably, this person had a background related to the position they were seeking, but there it was in black and white: The applicant had visited the company website ... and was looking for work.

When the business owner saw the ellipsis, a red flag shot up and rightfully so. The rules governing ellipses are specific and quite limited. It's appropriate to use an ellipsis if you want to indicate:

1. Uncertainty
2. An abrupt change of thought
3. A pause
4. Words missing from a quotation

That's it, four simple applications.

So, back to the job applicant. Were they expressing uncertainty? A thought change? A pause? (They weren't quoting anyone, so that option isn't relevant.)

In the end, it doesn't matter what they hoped to convey. The inadequate cover letter and unread resume moved directly to the rejection pile. Why? To the business owner, those three tiny dots were a huge signal the applicant was unprepared for a professional position. 

It's your decision. You can be on trend and use ellipses with abandon, but be prepared for the fallout. 

If you're smart, you'll ditch the dots unless you're eliminating words from a quote. Otherwise, you risk being viewed as uncertain, indecisive, distracted, inconsistent or incapable of clear thought, qualities few if any employers, clients or customers find desirable.


TIP: In lieu of an ellipsis, substitute a dash (-) to indicate a thought change or pause.


For more writing tips, see:
The Great Comma Controversy
The Humble Hyphen
Pesky Periods & Parentheses
Respect the Semicolon

For more related to employment, see:
Do Writing Skills Still Matter?
What Employers Really Want

Streamlining Social Media

Have you noticed? There's a new trend emerging on the social media front, one we can sum it up in one word: Streamlined.

From consultants to conglomerates, businesses of all sizes are opting to consolidate, simplify and rein in their social media reach. I'm seeing it in every sector, and it's particularly prevalent among micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Briefly, the essence of the new strategy is:

• Emphasize the website as the business center.
• Use targeted, quality content to revive neglected business blogs.
• Radically reduce the number of social media venues.

On average, the typical business appears to have slashed the number of social media outlets from a high of six or seven to a more manageable list of two or three. Why?

The first goal, according to one owner, is to refocus on their core business and customers. Juggling an ever-growing list of social media venues fragmented their focus, splintered marketing strategies, created endless churn, and produced disappointing results compared to the cost and effort involved. They were attracting traffic and attention rather than customers and clients.

Equally important is the desire to improve and centralize communications. The social media scattergram approach was inadvertently driving people away from rather than toward their websites, and leading to very public missteps, contradictions, dropped balls and promises that couldn't be kept.

As a result of these endless distractions, the business and bottom line suffered.

Instead of producing and planning, they were tweeting and facebooking. Instead of nurturing relationships, they were pursuing fleeting digital friends. They were "liked," but not selling.

Their eyes were so glued to the small screen, they'd lost sight of the big picture.

This is a development worth watching. It signals a new level of online maturity and a recognition that by trying to be all things to all people, many businesses lost sight of the essentials, something they're striving to rediscover.

Are Sliders Driving Away Customers?

There's no doubt about it. The full-screen rotating image sliders favored by so many web designers can be striking.

They can also be annoying and counterproductive.

Let's look at just one recent example. I found some information related to an ongoing project on a site with attractive imagery, decent content and a few possibly pertinent facts. Unfortunately, my mission was at the mercy of the site designers, and each click brought fresh torments.

Why? Every major topic featured a slider (aka: carousel). This fad pervades the web, and often it's a mistake.

In this particular instance, essential facts were displayed in paragraphs on the image and below it. The details were different, so it was vital to read and understand both to grasp the key facts.

Sliders made this challenge impossible: Image with text. Images without it. Image with text. Images without it. You get the picture (pun intended).

The rotation was timed so there was just enough time to read a handful of words before the text disappeared, replaced by a new image. By the time the text reappeared, I had to start all over again. As an added irritant, there were no clickable controls to slow or stop the rotation.

After a little exploration, it became clear the entire site was constructed in this manner. Any specifics I hoped to glean flashed briefly on screen, then were quickly replaced with attractive but uninformative pictures.

I did what any rational user would do: I left.

I tracked down another source where the presentation wasn't dramatic, the images were static and the content was solid. In combination, these factors allowed me to quickly locate the information I needed, absorb the details and complete the task at hand. Following so closely on the heels of the slider fiasco, this experience was refreshing and straightforward.

Guess which site I'll visit again, and which one I'll avoid?

If you've bought into the myth that image sliders, carousels and rotating banners enhance your website, you might want to rethink your strategy. Here's why:

1. Few products and services are so basic they can be conveyed in a series of images whizzing across the screen.
2. Sliders only work in situations where each image transmits sufficient information to be self-explanatory.
3. Readers routinely dismiss (block out) moving elements because they assume they're ads, not information. 

The aversion to sliders is more than a pet peeve. Studies conducted by Jakob Nielsen, the web usability expert, found automatic carousels annoy users and reduce their ability to find and act on the content or product they're actively seeking. (For more about Nielsen, go here and here.)

If online traffic is down, SEO rankings are slipping or sales are declining, it's time to take a good, hard look at your website. The dynamic image sliders you hoped would boost your brand and business are a fad to forego, and in fact might actually be driving away customers old and new.

Speaking of Attention Spans ...

In one of my recent research forays, I ran across this fascinating and fantastic tidbit:

• The average person has an attention span of 8 seconds.
• The average goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.

Like most of you, I approach online content with a fair degree of healthy skepticism. In general, I assume Pareto's 80/20 principle is alive, well and fully operational, meaning roughly 80% of  all online content has little or no basis in fact.

Lean Writer | How Many Words are Too Many?

A study conducted by the American Press Institute confirmed something most of us already knew: The longer a sentence is, the less readers understand.

The study analyzed comprehension rates associated with sentence length. It found readers understood:

• About 10% of the content in sentences with 43 words
• More than 90% of the content in sentences with 14 words
• Close to 100% of the content in sentences with fewer than 8 words

Buzzword Bingo Bonanza

Earlier this year, I attended a public meeting devoted to regional economic development.

These issues have a very real impact on all of us, so I was interested in hearing what this group of national thinkers and regional leaders had to say.

Within 10 minutes, a certain amount of repetition had occurred. I started making tick marks on my pad:

Writing | One Small Letter, Big Difference

And there it was.

A nationally recognized journalist was using an eggcorn, on live TV:  “Let’s flush out the picture.”

What they meant was: “Let’s flesh out the picture.”

The difference between “flush” and “flesh” is a classic eggcorn.

Writing | Eggcorns Gone Wild

Eggcorn © 2012 Crossbridge

What is an eggcorn?

It’s a relatively new term that describes the substitution of one word or phrase for another one that sounds the same or similar.

Eggcorns occur most commonly in spoken language, but they also appear in writing. Here’s an example:

For all intensive purposes, this project is nearly complete.

Of course, the correct phrase is “for all intents and purposes.”

Writing | Respect the Semicolon

Abraham Lincoln was a skilled and powerful communicator.

He was also a man with great wit and insight.

His observation below is so subtle and clever, it always makes me smile:

With educated people, I suppose, punctuation is a matter of rule; with me it is a matter of feeling. But I must say I have a great respect for the semicolon; it’s a useful little chap.

Good advice. Respect the semicolon; it's a useful chap.

________________________________

Related
Writing | The Great Comma Controversy
Writing | The Humble Hyphen
Writing | Pesky Periods & Parentheses
Writing | Eggcorns Gone Wild
It's Official, Email has No Hyphen

SEO | Is Google Sending Fresh Signals?

In April, Google launched a new round of search algorithm refinements.

Some were minor, others more significant. In all, Google implemented 52 changes to improve overall search quality.

These refinements have implications for you, your organization and your online presence.

Today, let’s focus on one thing: how Google describes changes related to searching for and finding current content.

Economy | Making Words Count

As I mentioned earlier, I recently had the opportunity to attend an event where Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes Media, and John Schlifske, CEO of Northwestern Mutual, spoke on the Power of a Game Plan.

Forbes is a well-known advocate for simplifying the tax code and implementing a flat income tax.

Communications | First, Name It

Something to think about:

[I]f names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.

CONFUCIUS, Analects of Confucius, Book 13, Verse 3

Strategy | Target Your Audience

We’ve spent some time looking at the Sweet Spot, which is one way to pinpoint a broad vision for the future.

At Crossbridge, we also spend a great deal of time helping clients define their primary target audiences.

Why? Because these are the people and players crucial to success.

Bridge the Gap: What's the Customer's POV?

One of the most common communication challenges is bridging the gap created by different points of view (POV).

Let me give you an example. Lean for the Machine is a practical part cost reduction training program.

The goal is to teach participants how to solve design, purchase, bid and production challenges to reduce overall part costs.

Can a Picture be Worth 8 Million Words?

In the early 20th century, an enterprising ad man coined the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words."

Why? Advertisements with pictures generated money at every stage.

They cost more to create. They consumed more print space, which increased advertising revenues. They attracted more attention, which increased sales for the advertiser.

The strategy worked. Over time this pithy phrase became a common saying, one that is sometimes true.

Business Lesson 6 from Mr. Blandings

Building a house is the perfect metaphor for the challenges we face as buyers and sellers, consumers and producers.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) highlights these parallels with brains, wit and humor.

The film shows how, from start to finish, almost everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It also shows how everyone at each step contributes to the snafus and confusion as well as the successes.

Business Lesson 5 from Mr. Blandings

Packed with talent, wit and charm, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) offers a range of valuable business lessons.

Every contractor, consultant and salesperson should watch it. Here’s the situation, as we tackle Business Lesson 5.

Blandings and the architect are reviewing final bills from the many trades and craftspeople who’ve worked on the house, which is almost finished. Blandings goes ballistic when he sees the bill for the pantry room floor, because it’s much higher than expected.

Is the contractor a crook? Is he taking advantage?

Business Lesson 4 from Mr. Blandings

The customer always knows best, according to a familiar business adage.

Let’s test this premise, as we continue to explore business lessons from Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

As you recall, the film highlights the adventures of the Blandings, who want to leave their small city apartment and move to a house outside the city.

The Blandings found and bought an old house. It was so decrepit, however, every expert tells them that demolishing the existing structure and building a new, modern home in its place would be more cost effective.

Construction is underway, and the Blandings have stopped by to assess progress.

Business Lesson 3 from Mr. Blandings

There are countless business lessons embedded in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

An especially enjoyable one features Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy), as she explains her color preferences to the painting contractor.

The dialogue is priceless:

Now I want the living room to be a soft green. Not quite as bluish as a robin’s egg, but yet not as yellow as daffodil buds … It should just be sort of a grayish yellow green …