1. Before you write anything down define not what you want to say, but what your message must achieve. Keep that firmly in focus at all times and use it as the main goal for everything you write. Ask yourself "does this concept/approach /clever headline/earnest mission statement/ really help the message achieve its objectives?" If the honest answer is no, alter it or rethink it completely.
2. Identify your target audience and get to know them very well. No matter how beautifully structured your message is if it doesn't take into account the real circumstances and needs of the audience, it won't work. Align your message's objectives with these circumstances and needs.
3. Study the media you'll be using; be aware of how people will receive your message and where your message will be competing for their attention, use your common sense and creativity to make it stand out in the crowd. (Or if the crowd's too big, reconsider the choice of media if that's within your power.)
4. Now develop your message based on these issues, and add in the final magic ingredient ? "what's in it for them?" Successful business messages are always based on benefits for the target audience - either actual or implied. Ensure you know the difference between features and benefits, and how to convert features into benefits.
5. Research the way your target audience speak and communicate, and phrase your message in their language - which may not necessarily be yours. Avoid corporate pomposity and unnecessary jargon. Talk to "you," not some vague third party, and keep your English as simple as possible, especially when your message is going to people who originate from other cultures.
6. Traditional grammar and even spelling mostly have been thrown out of the window. However there are still a few grammar rules you need to follow if you don't want your message to look amateurish. Your knowledge of the audience and how they communicate will dictate your writing style to a large extent. Don't let catchwords, "internet-speak," emoticons, etc. obscure your message or its benefits.
7. Time pressures and the influence of the internet have made us into a world of browsers, even when we're reading brochures and other print. Unless it's very short organise your offline text so readers who are browsing get the key points very easily. Always separate technical detail and other lengthy data from the main text so readers aren't obliged to plod through it unless they want to.
8. Never be tempted to transplant text written for print into an online environment. Online text is as different from offline text as a PC screen is from paper. Because reading from screens is so unfriendly, online text must be very short and crisp and must make it extremely easy for readers to absorb the key points. Don't let web designers talk you into flamboyant graphics that could inadvertently swamp your message.
9. When you give a speech, make sure you write it for yourself and your natural way of speaking - not your (or someone else's) idea of how an important business person should speak in public. Use a tape recorder to get an objective view of your voice, style, weaknesses and strengths. Keep sentences short with only one idea in each. Avoid telling jokes unless you're naturally funny. And rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
10. If you think you may be out of your depth with a business writing project (e.g. a TV commercial, major direct marketing campaign, complex video or business theatre script) you're probably right - so call in a professional writer. Don't risk embarrassing yourself or your organisation with an attempt that's amateurish - there's no shame in admitting you can't be an expert at everything!
Canadian-born Suzan St Maur is an international business writer and author based in the United Kingdom. In addition to her consultancy work for clients in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia, she contributes articles to more than 150 business websites and publications worldwide, and has written eleven published books. Her latest eBooks, "The MAMBA Way To Make Your Words Sell" and "Get Yourself Published" and available as PDF downloads from bookshaker.com.
To subscribe to her free biweekly business writing tips eZine, TIPZ from SUZE, click bookshaker.com.
(c) Suzan St Maur 2003 - 2005
cheap limo service Lombard .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareFar too many inexperienced writers create flat, stereotypical characters: the... Read More
WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT TO GET INTO UK UNIVERSITYHOW DO... Read More
If you are looking for copywriter books, you'll want to... Read More
Op-ed articles, also known as opinion/editorial articles, are a great... Read More
Want to write an article or book, but are stuck... Read More
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by marketing. First, there's so... Read More
Proofreading worksheets are a great tool to help individuals open... Read More
As a student of Spanish, my goal was to think... Read More
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury,England in 1965.... Read More
In most aspects of business, we will be expected to... Read More
Tips for your writing journeySo, you'd like to be a... Read More
Originality emerges from structure. Once you have a story idea,... Read More
When we write stories, with the purpose of sharing them... Read More
GAINING WRITING EXPERIENCE Some Catch-22, huh? In... Read More
Writer's block! Even columnist Dave Berry has it. He admits... Read More
Q. My writing sounds stiff and stilted. Help!A. Memories of... Read More
Some writers complain that writing is arduous work requiring long... Read More
(excerpted from the "How to Use a Journal" audio series... Read More
All the famous writers I heard of could paper the... Read More
Language Training - A key to Global CommunicationLanguage Training is... Read More
We all know people who ramble. They include every boring... Read More
I'm willing to bet that quite a number of you... Read More
Every writer expends a great deal of creative energy developing... Read More
My Dad has this old joke that goes, "What's the... Read More
What do people expect when they join a writing group?The... Read More
limo O'Hare Glen Ellyn ..If your writing muscle isn't in shape, writing a novel... Read More
This is a tough question for every freelance writer. For... Read More
An island in the Mediterranean. A beach in Africa. The... Read More
If you haven't realized the success you wanted last year,... Read More
Don't they drive you nuts?You can visit all the rules... Read More
How many times have you forced yourself to sit in... Read More
Agents and publishing houses have their best interests at heart,... Read More
The self-indulgent writer listens only to the mumblings of sycophants,... Read More
Op-ed articles, also known as opinion/editorial articles, are a great... Read More
You wrote a tips booklet. Maybe more than one. Oh... Read More
No matter what your fifth-grade English teacher says, some grammar... Read More
Your computer is a writing machine, a word processor, a... Read More
|| Graphology & Graphotherapy ||Everybody wants to know more about... Read More
Word processors are so widely used now that I tend... Read More
The only way to become a writer is to write.... Read More
"The Magic of Layout..."???Okay... "magic" might seem a bit over... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
Riding on the fumes of potential, you take pen to... Read More
In order to be successful with a newsletter, specialize in... Read More
In the ten years that I've taught people how to... Read More
With the expansion and diversion of businesses, manufacturers, and even... Read More
Working on my first humorous novel, I started with a... Read More
Winning writing contests can provide several advantages to writers. For... Read More
Quite a few years ago, I enrolled in a Degree... Read More
When you run an online agency for freelance writers, editors... Read More
Writing |