Welcome to the latest issue of Write for You News & Notes with some words of wisdom on writing, business, and life. If you'd like to share any books or favorite links with our readers, send us an email. And remember -- on paper or on-line, when you need words that work for you, I can write for you! Nancy Passow
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Autumn Arrives
| Autumn has arrived and, amazingly, the weather is acting like it. Cool, sunny days, even cooler nights. As usual, September has been a crazy month. I started the fall semester at FDU the wee before Labor Day (class 5 was this week!) And the Jewish holidays were really, really early this year (and have I mentioned that I'm the vice president in charge of Ritual at my synagogue?). So it's been a real scramble. Nonetheless, I'm feeling energized and looking forward to this new year. (Details in the next e-letter!)
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"But" Versus "And"
| Have you ever made a suggestion to someone only to hear the response, "that's an interesting idea, but what about . . . " You know the answer is no, not interested, and you immediately get defensive. David Spungen, a senior consultant at Lead Star, discusses how to avoid this, while still presenting an alternative view, in his article "The Tyranny of the 'But', The Genius of the 'And' ".
Don't say "but", say "and" instead. "That's an interesting idea and let's also remember to think about . . . " Wow! Instead of feeling shut down, you feel included and will listen to other suggestions. All it takes is acknowledgment that you've made a reasonable suggestion. Mr. Spungen explains that this is how good leaders behave.
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LinkedIn Do's & Don't's (& More)
|  Our local paper has a column on Sundays by Career Coach Eli Amdur. This past Sunday's column was " Annoying--Really Annoying --LinkedIn Behavior". Among Mr. Amdur's complaints are: non-personalized invitations to connect (not even adding the person's name); no reason given to connect (how do I know you?); too frequent status updates (when I first linked my Twitter account and my LinkedIn account, I accidentally had all of my tweets posting on LinkedIn -- eek!); endorsements for things I don't do; too much information (keep it short and readable). See his column for other complaints and more details. Want to make sure your LinkedIn profile won't annoy anyone? Send me an e-mail -- I'll give your profile a quick look and make some suggestions on how we can make it even better. Don't forget e-mail marketing. I can help you get started -- whether it's set-up, writing the content, or managing the entire process. I'll even remember to pay the monthly bill for you. I can set up your contact lists, help you choose a template (and customize it with your logo and website colors), and develop your e-mail schedule. To learn more, click here. Why use Constant Contact? They take care of the details--managing your contact list, making sure you meet anti-spam regulations, tracking users--these are just a few of the reasons. Give me a call or send me an e-mail so we can talk about how e-mail marketing can help your business! |
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phone: 201-541-9702 (o)
phone: 201-362-3404 (m)
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Book of the Month . . Banned Book Week
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Banned Book Week is celebrated the last week of September. This year it's Sept. 22 to 28. Words, and books, are very powerful and can scare people. So in response, they challenge whether certain books should be available.
Often books for children, particularly tweens and teens, are challenged. But books for adults are also on the list. Ironically,
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is on the list, a book about a time in the future when books are burned. The Harry Potter books top the list for this decade -- even though good does triumph over evil, it's considered by some to be dangerous. Check the lists and see what you've read that's considered DANGEROUS.
Quick update on my summer reads. The two books by Susan Elia MacNeal (Mr. Churchill's Secretary & Princess Elizabeth's Spy) started well, but got sillier and sillier. And the excerpt for the 3rd book in the series really is over-the-top. (Not just my opinion, but also my daughter's.)
On the other hand, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is very well-written and a beautiful story (as my daughter said, "it's sad but with a happy ending.") It tells about a period in our country's history (the interning of Japanese-Americans during WWII) that not many know about. Mary McCarthy's The Group was very interesting -- for those of us who are baby-boomers, this is a book about our mothers. I'm sure it made a far bigger impact when it was published, but still fun to read.
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| Quote of the Month | |
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on." -- Robert Frost
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