Tools of the Trade
A Monthly Guide to Communicating Effectively at Work |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the October edition of Write It Well's newsletter. Each month we offer you our time-tested tools and strategies that make it easier to write at work. Feel free to forward this message to friends and coworkers who are also interested in learning to write more effectively.
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Marketing Writing for Print or the Web
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Clear, concise, reader-focused prose is even more important for marketing writing than it is for general business writing. Here are some guidelines for writing crisp, targeted marketing writing:
- Focus more on your audience and the benefits than on the features of your product or service
- Make sure your main point is at the beginning
- Edit for concision and clarity
- Use a format that's easy to skim (e.g., use headings and lists)
- Avoid clichés, and corporate-speak so a diverse audience can follow your message easily
After you lay a solid foundation for your marketing writing, you're ready to tailor it for the Web. Here are some strategies:
- Identify different keywords and key phrases and target them on each webpage
- Call readers to action: give them a reason to engage with you
- Position your most important message "above the fold" -- i.e., in the top half of the webpage with the other messages and images that readers look at first
- Always track results, and be prepared to adjust your marketing tactics
- Find a consistent place and style for presenting your information
- Have one person do a final edit of all documents to ensure that your organization presents a consistent style and tone
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 Write It Well's Books, Programs,and Editing Services
 Write It Well can help with all your writing needs! Looking for a self-paced training manual to improve individual writing skills, or materials for an in-house trainer? Click here.Looking for an on-site workshop, customized webinar, or e-learning module? Click here.Want a writer or editor to help you create or finish an article, product description, or case study? Could you use help cleaning up the language or design for a document you need to finish? Or could you use a style guide or set of exemplary documents to make sure your team presents a coherent, professional image of your organization? Just click here.
What's New at Write It Well
Check out our Marketing Writing workshop! It's designed for anyone who needs to write clear, crisp, audience-focused copy for print or the Web. Our new book is coming! In January 2011, we'll release a fully updated version of our sold-out book Grammar for Grownups. The new self-paced training manual is titled Essential Grammar: A Write It Well Guide, and will be available as a downloadable PDF or a bound book. A facilitator kit will be available for trainers.
Comma help is on the way, too! In November, Write It Well will release a brand-new e-learning module, Just Commas, to help you master the comma once and for all.
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The updated facilitator kit for our workbook Professional Writing Skills is available. For only $499, which includes shipping, you'll receive 20 copies of the workbook. You'll also receive a leader's guide with suggestions for preparing an excellent workshop and a script for leading it, and a set of PowerPoint slides that you can customize with logos and writing samples from your organization.
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Welcome to our new clients, The University of California Haas School of Business, Check Point Software Technology's Consumer Marketing Group, and the County of Solano, CA!
· Keep reading our newsletter! In November we'll review correct uses for the comma and roll out our new Just Commas e-learning module. And in December we'll share our tips and tools for writing proposals and requests for proposals (RFPs).
Just a Bit about Us
Write It Well is certified as a woman-owned business (WBE) and a California State-Certified supplier (57828). Since 1980, we have helped people in the workplace communicate clearly and work together effectively.
We develop and deliver online and on-site programs, publish a line of popular business-writing texts and facilitator kits, and provide writing and editing services for organizations large and small. We offer five programs: Marketing Writing, Writing Performance Reviews, Effective E-Mail, Business Writing, and Grammar Fundamentals. You can customize any of these job-relevant programs, and they get results.
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