|
|
|
4 Major Mistakes to Avoid when Writing an Article
By avoiding these common mistakes, you will greatly improve your article. The Internet has an overabundance of disregarded content that was written in the same rambling way that the author normally speaks in. Many of these articles would never have...
ARE YOU WRITING FOR A CHANGE?
Whenever you reach one of those writer's roadblocks, it helps to take some time to reexamine what drives you to write in the first place. I submit, however, that regardless of your reason(s) for being, or wanting to be, a writer, or what kinds of...
Nip and Tuck – Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy
by Karon Thackston © 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Have you ever been to one of those sites that has obviously been written to get high search engine rankings? You know the ones… they have copy that sounds like this: “When you buy quality...
The Secret Ingredient to Your Writing
Okay, so what do you need to succeed in your writing career? To keep it simple, I would say just five things – the first four are obvious enough but the last one may shock (and comfort) you. Let's go through them in order: Technical ability This...
The secrets to writing your very own profit pulling ebook!
I can guarantee that anyone can write an ebook. Everyone has their own interests which they can talk confidently about in depth and detail. With the amount of people on the internet nowadays, you can guarantee that there will be thousands of others...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Getting Results from Your Writing & Speaking
When we communicate, we usually want something to happen. We want results. And, when we’re conscious of results, we’re seeking effective communication.
To put it another way, the effectiveness of communication can be measured by the responses it gets. It's not measured by how well we wrote or how eloquently we spoke, although those can help us get the responses we want.
Good writing and speaking help us get a response because they help get the message across. As I've argued in my book, A Manager's Guide to Newsletters, a newsletter that doesn't get read cannot get a response from readers.
So, writing, designing, speaking, and all those other creative activities matter. But, in the end, responses are what count, and effectiveness means getting the responses we want.
That's true for all types of communication, and not just marketing campaigns. Managers who send messages to employees, for example, want employees to respond in a particular way. Maybe they want the employees to do something differently, or maybe they want to reinforce existing behaviors.
For a couple of employee newsletters I published, effectiveness meant greater awareness of health and safety issues. If the newsletter worked, then they should have helped reduce the number of plant accidents and helped employees lead healthier lifestyles.
One more point: Effectiveness cannot be achieved without articulated objectives. As the old adage goes, "If you don't know where you're going, any road with do." Or, as the inimitable Yogi Berra put it, "If you don't know where you are going... You might end up someplace else."
With that, let’s create a quick and easy checklist that takes us through the basic steps required for effective communication:
1. What is your objective, what do you want to happen? Do you want more sales, reduced employee
turnover, renewals by members? Be specific about your objectives, and if you can attach time and dollar values to them so much the better.
2. What response of readers or listeners is necessary? What action should they take? What thoughts do you want them to keep in their minds? Do you want to reinforce existing thinking or behaviors? What do they need to do in terms of your objective?
3. Why would they respond to your message? It's all very well for you to have objectives, but you'll also have to offer something that provides value in their terms. Think of commercial broadcasting, which combines free entertainment with advertising messages.
4. What message content will motivate them to act? What subjects will provide that value to them?
5. How will you present that content? You can entertain, inform, consult, challenge, solve problems, and more.
6. How often will you have to repeat the message? In many cases, you'll need to make multiple contacts to get the response you want. Stockbrokers making sales calls, for example, figure on an average of five to seven contacts before a prospect becomes a potential client.
7. If you quantified your objectives, does the value of meeting the objective exceed the cost of communicating? In a marketing context, for example, how many sales do you have to make to pay the cost of your advertising campaign?
Going through these steps will start us on the right foot, because it pushes us to think about responses. And, when we're focused on responses, we're much more likely to communicate effectively.
About the Author
Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Each week subscribers receive, at no charge, a new communication tip that helps them lead or manage more effectively. Click here for more information:
http://www.CommunicationNewsletter.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
|
| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
|
| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
|
| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
|
| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
|
| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
|
| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
|
| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
|
| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
|
| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
|
| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
|
| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
|
| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
|
| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
|
| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
|
|