Hey! Watch your language

Shameful. Shameful. Shameful.

The words coming out of your mouth.

“The ideas coming out of our focus groups are simply amazing.”

“We are literally training our staff every day to deliver superior service.”

“I’m excited to announce the next generation of products.”

Under no circumstances do you need to articulate yourself using unrefined expressions born of the popular culture. You don’t need to develop and convey street cred – at least not on that kind of street.

Are they your target market? Do they make the purchase decisions? Will they favor your products or services because you speak, tweet and behave like them?

Is that how you want your company perceived?

Is that how you want to be perceived?

Really?

You are above such nonsense.  How about speaking and writing clearly and concisely? Choose your words wisely and exude confidence and competence. You’ll gain the respect and trust of your peers, managers, professional colleagues and the street – the one that makes you money.

Considering what you read and hear in business, media, music, on television and the cinema screen, you can stand out using just plain proper English.

That would be literally amazing.

del.icio.us Tags: language,word choice,vocabulary,credibility

In honor of those who died to protect our freedoms

 

 

I fly the Stars and Stripes for you.

And I thank you.

del.icio.us Tags: United States Memorial Day Holiday

There’s no such thing as free marketing

I attended a Meetup earlier this week entitled, Marketing Without Dollars. I went into the assemblage loaded for bear because I abhor the idea, belief or notion that marketing can be accomplished without money.

It quickly became apparent that the presenter wasn’t purporting to possess radical ideas for moving products through various channels and into the buyer’s open arms without spending a dime driving awareness and demand.

No. He stated emphatically (well, for a kind and soft-spoken man, it was meant to be emphatic) that marketing is more a mindset than a skillset…especially for small and emerging businesses. He focused primarily on image and how business people and businesses present and conduct themselves, actively and passively, throughout each and every day.

Examples:

• Swept floors and clean restrooms
• Well manicured lawns
• Company vehicles neatly aligned in the parking lot
• Precisely organized product displays
• Crisp professional company uniforms
• Courteous and attentive receptionists
• Visible and sincere participation in civic events

He categorized all of these as free marketing activities.

The presenter was really talking about image, perception and brand management. Marketing is much broader and comprised of many complex disciplines. Company culture, public perception and brand are aspects of marketing, and quite important ones at that, but few if any businesses of any size and maturity can succeed or survive by putting most of their energy into these “marketing without dollars” activities.

It’s wise to pay attention to them, though.

But are any of them really free? I say no. Do you agree?

del.icio.us Tags: marketing,perception,image,corporate culture

You can handle the truth

Do you believe everything you read? Do you trust statistics? Do you casually accept the interpretation of surveys and those that report them as unbiased?

Me either.

Why is that? Could it be because we’ve been mislead too often; burned too many times?

I suspect so. We’ve all come to understand that individuals and groups with a particular agenda choose to dissect data or select certain portions of a study that supports their philosophy and present that information as the complete picture. Generally, what they fail to convey is the numbers are only a slice of the pie. They’ve skewed the truth in their favor.

It’s disingenuous and it fosters mistrust.

Consider the damage it does to your company and your brand when you ask a copywriter to make an unsubstantiated claim to close a gap or secure a competitive advantage. The truth will eventually emerge, and your reputation will be smeared. Customers may walk. Partners too.

So why risk your reputation? Take the high road. Win because your product or service is superior and your customer service puts your competitors to shame. You’ll protect your honor and the dignity of all, including copywriters, who are working vigorously to ensure your product and company succeeds.

Disclosure: this post was originally published on 10/20/2011

del.icio.us Tags: truth,honesty,integrity,trust

The long and winding road to overnight success

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Success.
Success who?
Overnight success…you started your new venture yesterday, so here I am.

No one is an overnight success.

Businesses are not an overnight success.

Success is preceded by immeasurable blood, sweat and tears over long periods of time. Individuals put their hearts and souls into something they believe in immensely in the hopes others will value their product or service. A viable business may eventually take hold for the lucky and the fortunate. Most efforts take years to achieve market acceptance and modest year-on-year growth.

Steve Martin said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

It’s sage advice for businesses as well as individuals. A relentless pursuit of excellence will get you noticed. Your verve, passion and commitment will reap rewards. Success will find you.

Just don’t expect success to find you overnight.

del.icio.us Tags: overnight success,commitment to excellence,business success

I will not be ignored!

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” 
̶  Steve Martin

This quote is making the rounds on Pinterest and blogs lately. It is attributed to the incomparable Mr. Steve Martin, actor, musician and comedian. Mr. Martin spoke these words during an interview he gave to Charlie Rose. It aired nearly four and a half years ago on December 12, 2007.

Talk about sticky, this message definitely has staying power. Perhaps Mr. Martin should have been an ad executive, or a brand manager. I have no doubt he would have been stellar in either capacity.

Perhaps the quote was Mr. Martin’s credo. He’s lived a brilliant life, excelling at most things he’s chosen to pursue. He first burst onto the scene in the 1970’s as a clever comedian, evolved into an excellent actor and later gained critical acclaim as a banjo player.

Mr. Martin didn’t remake himself. He made a conscious career and life decision to not be a one trick pony. So he committed himself to the things he loved, worked very hard and honed his skills. Mr. Martin’s work ethic paved the path to his success.

He became so good as a comic, actor and musician, that they simply couldn’t ignore him.

We all should be able to do the same with at least one professional pursuit. Agreed?

del.icio.us Tags: Steve Martin,commitment to excellence,career choice

Scoreboard!...no wait…word!…wait…forget it

I’ve never been hip to slang, street language, urban speak or other forms of non-standard language. Words from those worlds that were mainstreamed eluded me.

Example: for the longest time, I didn’t fully grasp the meaning of scoreboard! Friends used it in a vain attempt to end an argument.

“Scoreboard!” one would shout.

“Huh? What does a scoreboard have to do with a disagreement over who is the greatest rock-n-roll guitarist,” I thought to myself.

The verbal sparring continued, so my question was never answered for me.

I sort of figured it out in recent years on the softball field when opponents full of attitude would be chirping at us about their superiority while we piled on the runs. My guys didn’t jaw with them, but in the dugout I’d hear scoreboard spoken softly amongst the team.

We had substantially more runs. The team that scores the most runs wins. That’s a fact. Numbers on the scoreboard are cold hard facts. They represent the truth.

Word!

I speak the truth.

From Urban Dictionary:

"Word" is the shortened form of the phrase: "my word is my bond" which was originated by inmates in U.S. prisons. The longer phrase was shortened to "word is bond" before becoming "word," which is most commonly used. It basically means "truth." Or "to speak the truth."

And no, I didn’t understand what the heck people meant when the exclaimed “Word!”

It will be a sign of the apocalypse when I see “Scoreboard!” or “Word!”  in business communications.

del.icio.us Tags: words,street slang,urban speak,scoreboard

My word, who needs the aggravation

A favorite online reference of mine is dictionary.com. I use it frequently for this blog and when I come across unfamiliar words during my online reading.

Hey, it happens.

A feature on the site is Word of the Day. For the most part, I’ve ignored it. Why? So many of the words are quite obscure, which means I’ll rarely have occasion to use them. That’s aggravating, and I don’t need more aggravation in my life.

I felt out of character today, so I glanced at the Word of the Day – obtest – and was immediately stumped. I’ve never seen the word in textbooks, articles, editorials, periodicals, novels and others reading materials, nor have I heard it uttered in any context.

Have you?

The definition

obtest  \ ob-TEST \  , verb;

1. To supplicate earnestly; beseech.
2. To invoke as witness.
3. To protest.
4. To make supplication; beseech.

Quite frankly, the first definition confuses me. Supplicate means to humbly entreat, petition or request; beseech conveys a sense of urgency. I think the tone of voice when one supplicates would be much more demure and deferential than when one urgently beseeches, which hints at subtle manipulation to bend another’s will in one’s favor.

Today I learned a word that confuses me. A word that confuses me is unusable. So much for avoiding more aggravation in my life.

del.icio.us Tags: word,word of the day,definition,dictionary

Take my word for it

Vituperative.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the word popped into my head this morning. I wasn’t angry or lashing out at someone. Nor was a verbal undressing given or received being replayed in the theater in my mind.

Nope.

In fact, there was nothing spectacular, inspirational or provocative coursing through my brain when the word sprung from the depths of my memory.

vi·tu·per·a·tion [vahy-too-puh-rey-shuhn], noun
  - verbal abuse or castigation; violent denunciation or condemnation.

Huh? Where did that come from, and why? I haven’t used or thought of the word in ages.

Wonderful word, though. It slithers off the tongue like a deadly snake. It’s bite venomous.

Take my word for it, in my line of work I’ll never be presented the opportunity to use vituperative. It breaks too many rules of writing today.

Fortunately, I have this blog where these rules don’t apply. Furthermore, I have dedicated and appreciative readers like you.

Thank you!

del.icio.us Tags: vocabulary,words,rules of writing,blogging

Rain on me

It rained all day and that’s about as exciting as it gets when it comes to the weather here in Austin, Texas. Adding to the giddiness was the incredibly cool 70° F high temperature. It hasn’t been that chill in Central Texas since March.

We need a drought buster and this system could be it. A low pressure system near the four corners is trudging east at a snail’s pace. As a consequence, more precipitation is predicted through Friday.

Folks were seen dancing in the rain. It’s a bit pitiful, really.

Rain of a different cloud

It continues to rain on my copywriting parade. I’m tasked with crafting product briefs and videos. The instructions are always the same: make the copy brief and not too technical. People have little patience and short attention spans. If they have to think too hard about the features and benefits of our solutions, they’ll seek out our competitors.

Pitiful. Isn’t it?

del.icio.us Tags: rain,metaphor,copywriting,attention deficit

Don’t speak ill of the brand

The best laid plans sometimes go awry through no fault of your own. On Friday I wrote about my intentions to pay attention to some of the brands I would be exposed to on a 150 mile round-trip drive on I-35. Macro view first; individual brand analysis last.

I expected to be sharp of mind and fit of body for the drive. I woke up feeling anything but 100%. I wasn’t seriously ill, but the waves roiling in my stomach kept me from giving my utmost attention to my surroundings during the trip.

I tried, and I times I succeeded in taking in the branding environment, but other times, I was too aware of how unwell I felt.

Enough whining.

Here are two road trip branding observations:

1. In the metro areas, few company or product brands rose above the fray. There’s so much visual noise, it’s dizzying for drivers, so drivers tend to block it out. (That’s a good thing since distracted driving is a killer. We don’t need signage and billboards contributing to the problem.) This probably isn’t news for most of us; just affirmation.
2. In rural areas, I noticed the pitiful over the excellent and I’m not paying the pitiful a compliment. What was memorable was the neglect and that does not impress. Bad store signage and dilapidated billboards. When there’s little branding competition, why wouldn’t you put your best foot forward? Talk about a missed opportunity.

So that’s it and it isn’t much better than I felt (sorry readers).

Of course, pictures would sure help accentuate my observations, but I was driving and I would not be distracted.

SIDEBAR: Talk about not being on top of your game; I realized later that a better title for last Friday’s blog post: Branding At The Speed Of Drive.

del.icio.us Tags: brands,brand messages,branding,advertising,communications

Branding at the speed limit

A while back I wrote a post about the countless number of brands we are exposed to every day. The thought occurred to me as I was driving on the interstate that at that particular moment, I was being bombarded with scores of brand messages. What troubled me was how until that instance of clarity, I was blissfully and completely unaware.

Tomorrow I will be taking that same route north but for a shorter distance of 75 miles. Will history repeat itself?

No, because I’m planning to make a conscious effort to absorb some of these brand messages and analyze my reactions to them.

First, I will make a macro observation: what is the environment like where the brands are competing for my attention.

Next, I will hone in on specific brands that capture my eye and I’ll quickly assess why I think they were successful.

I’ll be forced to make quick judgments since I’ll be driving through the area at 60 MPH or faster.

It’s not speed dating, but for a branding and communications guy, it should be interesting to see if I pick up any positive vibes.

del.icio.us Tags: brands,brand messages,branding,advertising,communications

The more things change, the more the brand stays the same

I admire brands that stick with what works. It takes guts to stay the course when there’s so much change around you, especially in this swift-moving, reactive and highly impatient era.

Director:  “Our competition is doing X! We need to respond. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing.”

Brand Manager: “Why not? We’re firmly entrenched in the leadership position. The campaign rocks and the channel and consumers love it and they love the brand. What’s to change?”

Director: “Doesn’t matter; we need to change the branding campaign now.”

Consider ESPN and their SportsCenter program promotions. Very little about their commercials has changed in 17 years. It’s remarkable that they continue to produce highly entertaining, memorable and fresh creative year after year. And every promo ends with their tag line “This is SportsCenter”, appearing on the screen…seen, but not said.

The campaign never gets old.

How many product or service brands can match their stamina and success? Can you name any brands that have enjoyed even a 10 year run utilizing the same theme, creative formula and slogan? How about a 5 year run?

Write the brand and the number of years the same campaign creative and messaging has run in the Comments box. 

Thank you for your contribution and for reading my blog.

del.icio.us Tags: brand,branding,brand campaign,commercials,slogan,ESPN,SportsCenter

Am I missing something?

Prevailing wisdom dictates that blogs, articles and web content will not be read if they lack visuals.

Really?

Precision in communication calls for utilizing all available tools to help convey ideas and knowledge. Where an appropriate infographic, picture, icon or graph visually punctuates a concept, definitely include it.

But I’m not for inserting an image simply because prevailing wisdom dictates.

Why?

Because sometimes it looks forced, and that’s just dumb.

del.icio.us Tags: blogging,infographic,image,picture

Be careful how you speak

“It was a very exciting finish and a game I’ll probably never forget. Me, Joe, Chris and Osie were clutch!”

Did you cringe? If not, perhaps you don’t recognize the grammar rules that were violated:

1. The speaker is one of the subjects of the sentence, therefore, I is the correct pronoun, not me.

2. When giving a list of people that includes the speaker, all other names come first:

“Joe, Chris, Osie and I were clutch!”

Individuals who put themselves before others are telling a story that does not reflect well on themselves. At best, it suggests they are not well spoken and have a poor command of the language. At worst, it hints that they are self-centered and egotistical.

“I’m most important!” it shrieks to the listener. 

Intentional or not, when you put yourself at the front of the story, you are dissing the others involved and putting yourself in a negative light.

Don’t let your grammar betray you.

del.icio.us Tags: proper grammar,grammar rules,pronouns

If you can write, thank a teacher

I attended a Meetup last Friday entitled “Finding Your Blogging Voice and Leveraging it in Social Media”, presented by Ms. Stephanie Bogus, Director of Content and head writer for Speak Social, an Austin-based social media company. Ms. Bogus is a highly gifted and talented writer with a passion for blogging and other social media marketing applications for businesses. She is also an engaging presenter and storyteller.

Ms. Bogus regaled us with several tales of her experiences blogging for clients and shared many valuable insights. Not surprisingly, some of her best lessons learned were from her worst mistakes.

I’m not going to focus on those stories; rather, I want to relay two key observations that I found slightly distressing, albeit, undoubtedly true.

Writing is a disappearing skill

If you scan social media networks, various blog hosting sites, and even some online media portals, surely you’ve noticed the sub-par writing skills of many of today’s social media practitioners. A gentleman who identified himself as a former newspaper journalist decried the quality of many blog posts he reads. He didn’t mince words describing the writing as atrocious. Sadly, many agreed with his assessment.

On that note, Ms. Bogus reminded us of the importance of keeping blog posts short and our sentences concise. Write at an 8th grade level using conversational language. People don’t have time. They skim, and if they trip on a word they don’t know, or if they fail to grasp the point of your post quickly, they move on.

Well stab me in the heart.

del.icio.us Tags: blogging,social media,writing

Give your personal brand a purpose

Whether or not you believe in the concept of personal branding, the value of the discussion it has garnered is indisputable. Much of the advice of late is on the importance of finding a meaningful way to distinguish yourself by bringing your talents and passions to a cause that aligns with your values.

In a Forbes article this week, Dorie Clark, CEO of Clark Strategic Communications and the author of the forthcoming book Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, stated that

“..the true secret of leveraging your personal brand is to ensure it’s not just about you and your ambitions, but the value you can bring to the world.”

We want our corporate and product brands to contribute to the quality of life and help make the world a better place. Should we expect anything less of ourselves?

Find your purpose and make your personal brand stand for something more than professional status.

del.icio.us Tags: personal brand,personal brand defined,personas,online personality

Build personal brand cache through actions, not words

Let your actions speak for your personal brand.

Actions like:

• performing pro bono work for your favorite charity
• serving on a committee at your local school
• writing a professional paper
• mentoring a new employee
• leading a green initiative at work
• rescuing cats or dogs
• foster parenting
• opening your home to disaster victims
• organizing a blood drive and donating blood
• visiting the senior citizen center
• working at the polls

all speak volumes about your character, your passion and your heart. Not only will any of these types of actions enhance people’s respect and admiration for you; they will set a powerful example for your children and their generation of up-and-coming citizens of the world.

Make your personal brand stand for something more than professional status.

del.icio.us Tags: personal brand,personal brand defined,personas,online personality

Meet your personal brand manager

Corporations and products have brand managers. Celebrities, athletes, politicians, dignitaries and other famous people do, too.

What about the rest of us?

Mirror, mirror on the wall

I can’t afford a personal housekeeper or trainer and I definitely can’t afford a personal brand manager. So, the job falls to me, myself and I.

Yes, you and I, we 99% have to be our own personal brand managers.

Relax. Generally speaking, you don’t have to put that much effort into managing your personal brand. Since it’s the essence of your character, you merely have to be yourself.

And not just at work and during professional endeavors. Your personal brand is on display and in play always.

Working your network

As I stated in yesterday’s blog post, when it comes to your personal brand and your professional interests, it is worthwhile to develop a set of key messages that bring clarity and focus to your professional attributes and pursuits.

Some refer to these messages as your elevator speech. Take care to formulate messages that are concise and simple to understand; short and sweet as it were. They will be easier to remember.

In addition, a common thread or theme should permeate your messages so your audience can see the linkage between them.

Display social graces

Managing the perception of your personal brand is as simple as acting in accordance with your key messages and the values you profess. That includes when you are online and in a social setting, or perhaps I should stress, especially when you are in a social setting.

Never waiver. It’s the old adage: It takes years to build your reputation and minutes to ruin it.

Be consistent. Talk less. Let your actions speak for you.

del.icio.us Tags: personal brand,personal brand defined,personas,online personality,online profiles,reputation,character,personality,word choice,written word,brand communication,blogs,copywriting,precision in communication,ghost writing,freelance,marketing communications consultant,social media writer,blogger

Your personal brand travels with you

Yesterday I chimed in on the discussion that an individual’s personal and professional brands are one and the same.

I agree.

I believe the point behind defining your personal brand was, and is, to help the person develop a set of key messages that bring clarity and focus to their professional attributes and pursuits.

It never occurred to me that a personal brand was supposed to be separate and distinct from an individual’s social brand (so to speak).

Personal brand defined

To borrow from Brandeo’s definition of a brand:

A personal brand is the sum of all the associations, feelings, attitudes and perceptions that people have related to their observations and interactions with you.

Like corporate and product brands, you don’t own your brand. Everyone in your life owns it. You embody it. You exude it. You live it every day, but others perceive it and decide what you represent.

It’s about character.

Your personal brand is the 360°’s of you.

del.icio.us Tags: personal brand,personal brand defined,personas,online personality,online profiles,reputation,character,personality,Richard Becker,Copywrite Ink,Peter Shankman,Brandeo,word choice,written word,brand communication,blogs,copywriting,precision in communication,ghost writing,freelance,marketing communications consultant,social media writer,blogger