Edit for Clarity - Brute Force Editing Equals the Death of BAD Writing by Jan Verhoeff

Or not... Do you know how important good grammar is to high-quality Article Marketing? What about literary writing? Does it really make a difference?

You may be looking back over the years through the maze of "Run, Spot, Run." to see if grammar has an effect on real writing (or at least that which we recognize as REAL on the Internet). To glamorize or not to glamorize, that is the question... But will we perceive a benefit from staying on target and focusing on correct grammar?

The editor in me says, "Yes."

Those moments when you look back over your work and read failures from prior grammar lessons, you might want to think about the correct ways to express yourself.

Fix the spelling errors:

Nothing distracts from your message like bad spelling. Spell checker is effective for gross errors, but can't be relied upon for misuse of correctly spelled words. Read it again and look at those words. It benefits your article, your results and your reader.

Punctuation issues:

Nothing can be so wrongfully assumed as punctuation. Where you put the comma's can determine the entire meaning of the sentence. Ending a sentence with a question mark also changes the meaning of your words, along with the intonation of the voice. Check your punctuation.

Grammar blunders:

Dangling participles, misplaced modifiers and presumptuous propositions determine the value in your content. Writing correctly means you get the readers attention, and respect. Have you ever heard the way other writers talk about bad grammatical errors? Embarrassing!

You be the force behind the red ink when editing your own work. Effective editing makes writing quality content a snap. If you're ready to get started, go visit http://writerthoughts.com/ and see what other tips and tidbits you might learn to help improve your writings.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jan Verhoeff writes tight, value based content for the Internet with an emphasis on marketing and business development. Visit her site at http://janverhoeff.com/ for a FREE Subscription to Jan's News & Updates.

5 Ways to Express Yourself Skillfully with Words by Jan Verhoeff

Writing down words intimidates the most communicative individuals. It doesn't have to be that way. Words can be your friend and writing skills are easily learned. Getting your message across often means you must write it down. Come along and learn 5 ways to express yourself skillfully with words.

1. Pay attention to grammar details. This may be the most important part of writing. Use essential grammar rules well and don't overuse clichés, slang, or jargon, in most cases they simply aren't necessary. Concentrate on saying what you mean, using simple language arts.

2. Punctuation counts. Use it strategically and with purpose. Often misused punctuation can change the meaning of the sentence to mean something revoltingly different than you intend. Be aware of where you place commas, periods and exclamation points.

3. When in doubt, leave it out. Generally if the word doesn't have a purpose, you should leave it out. You don't need to tell your reader the book is VERY good. Simply tell them it's GOOD and allow them to determine how good it is by reading the book. Overused words often become redundant.

4. Write like you talk. If you wouldn't say it out loud, don't waste your readers time by putting it in print. They want to read what you would say. Use words in print the way you use them in your speech and your reader will understand better, what you write. Give your writing meaning and value by using common every day language.

5. Edit your work. Once you've written it, take a moment to go back over, reread and rewrite until it's perfect. Sometimes, you'll want to set it aside for a day or two and come back to edit again. Your work will be better presented if it is perfect. But don't wait too long or your topic will be out dated.

Are you ready to put your words in print?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Writer, Jan Verhoeff at http://janverhoeff.com/ helps writers of every genre get their words in print and published. Visit her site at http://writerthoughts.com/ to get a FREE ebook about writing, and an online Ezine straight to your email with writer information.

Email Pressure Reducing for Office Workers

Today's white collar workforce appears to be handling email with a little less pressure than in the past few years. According to the results from this year's WhiteCollar Productivity Index (WPI), the only study of its kind providing long-term data on how people actually spend their time at work, there is a reduction in the time people are spending reading and responding to email during 2007 as compared to both 2006 and 2005.

According to Bary Sherman, CEO of PEP Productivity Solutions, "The WPI study indicates that America's white collar worker may be becoming smarter and more effective in their day-to-day routines. They appear to have a better grasp on how to use technology as a productivity tool and are getting more of the right work done in less time. We have seen a steady time increase every year since we started watching email in 2000. This year that has changed. It will be exciting to see how this trend plays out over the next years."

The WPI study generated serious interest from academia and organizations when it was first made public in 2005, presenting annual statistics collected since 1994 from over 3,200 employees (administration, staff, middle management and senior executives) in major U.S. companies representing a variety of sectors, including the manufacturing, automotive, finance, biotech, education, insurance, accounting and technology industries.

The core subjects measured by the 2008 WPI study are handling email, handling paper mail, attending meetings, working overtime, delegating responsibility, dealing with interruptions, looking for lost data, managing work backlogs and planning work.

The entire WPI, expressed in hours per week, per person, is as follows:

ISSUE YEAR 2006 / YEAR 2007 % change

Handling Email

9.4 hours / 7.3 hours -22%

Handling Paper Mail
1.2 hours / 1.0 hours -17%

Attending Ineffective Meetings
3.0 hours / 2.2 hours -27%

Working Overtime
5.8 hours / 4.4 hours -24%

Delegating Work
4.3 hours / 3.0 hours -30%

Being Interrupted
4.6 hours / 3.8 hours -17%

Looking for Information
1.6 hours / 1.3 hours -19%

Working on Backlog
3.0 hours / 2.2 hours -27%

Planning Work
2.0 hours / 2.1 hours +.5%

Source:
PEP Productivity Solutions, Inc. (formerly IBT-USA, Inc.)
http://www.pepproductivitysolutions.com/

Do You Envy Those Who Possess A Superior Vocabulary?

Do you get frustrated when you can't think of a particular word? Is it depressing when you hear or read a word whose definition escapes you? Do you envy those who possess a superior vocabulary? Do you embarrass yourself by mispronouncing words? Do you feel intimidated when trying to converse with "intelligent" people?

Most of us would answer "yes" to at least one of those questions. But with more than 500,000 words and idioms in the English language (compared to 100,000 in Shakespeare's time), improving your vocabulary can seem like an impossible task.

In his new book, "Own These Words!" (published by AuthorHouse -- http://www.authorhouse.com/), Noah Bhody has split the linguistic sea, casting aside both the rudimentary words that form the basis of everyday communication and the technical/scientific/medical/legal jargon that most of us will never use. What he has found left over are a mere 5,000 words that can place a speaker in the upper echelons of skillful communicators.

The program presented in "Own These Words!" is designed to be mastered over the course of one year. There are 250 pages, 20 words per page, each page covering a different topic, from animals and architecture to food and females. If you attack these words for an hour a day, five days a week, then at the end of a year you will own them, their definitions and their pronunciations.

"Own These Words!" is sure to be a source of epiphany and humility. You will see -- Aha! -- for the first time in writing, words that you have uttered or heard. And you will be surprised -- Whoops! -- perhaps to a greater degree, by the correct pronunciations of some of the words that you frequently use.

"Own These Words!" is an ideal tool for students, the workforce and the elderly. Whether you're studying for a vocabulary proficiency exam, polishing your pitch for a raise or stimulating your synapses during retirement, this book will do the trick. It's impossible to camouflage a poor vocabulary, but those who have embraced these 5,000 power words will wax eloquently!

If fluency in staples such as "great," "fine," and "OK" is all you need, that's, well, great, fine and OK. But if you're champing at the bit to enhance your wordscape, then "Own These Words!" is a must-read.

New Spanish Translation of Proposal Writing Guide

The Foundation Center has just published "Guia para escribir propuestas," a new Spanish-language edition of its popular "Guide to Proposal Writing," 5th Edition. Originally written by Jane C. Geever, a professional fundraiser who has been creating successful proposals for more than 25 years, the "Guide" delivers comprehensive instruction on both the basics and the finer points of this crucial skill for grantseekers.

"Language barriers can prevent those who most need our resources from gaining full access to them," said Janet Camarena, director of the Center's San Francisco office, who oversaw the translation. "As anyone who has ever worked in fundraising or philanthropy knows, even native English speakers often find proposal writing challenging. Those who speak English as a second language are at a greater disadvantage. Resources such as the "Guia" are particularly beneficial for creating greater inclusion in the world of institutional philanthropy."

As part of its ongoing initiative to reach underserved audiences, the Foundation Center is kicking off the translation of this new edition by offering free Spanish-language proposal writing classes in multiple California cities starting April 14, where the "Guia" will be given away free of charge to attendees. To learn more or to register for the classes, visit http://foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco/sf_calendar.html. The translation of the new edition, the free training, and its free distribution throughout California are generously sponsored by the Levi Strauss Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Rosenberg Foundation, and by the donors to the Foundation Center-San Francisco's Capacity Building Initiative.

The new Spanish-language translation describes the entire proposal writing process, starting with pre-proposal planning tips to help grantseekers define their projects and determine readiness for fundraising. The author gives detailed instruction on essential proposal components and provides examples of cover letters, project descriptions, budgets, and follow-up communications providing excerpts from real-life proposals. The final chapter, "What the Grantmakers Have to Say," is based on interviews with 40 grantmakers who offer unique insights into the proposal evaluation process.

The "Guia" is available for purchase at the Center's online Marketplace.

Free Spanish Online Lessons

Spanish Bookworld has added a new set of free Spanish lessons with audio and text that will help learners get familiar with the Spanish numbers, greetings, verbs and sentence construction. They can be found at
http://www.spanish-bookworld.com/visual-link-spanish-greetings.html

Spanish Bookworld already has a vast array of free Spanish learning material on their site. There are free lessons from their book + CD package entitled Learn Spanish At Your Own Pace, their 'Spanish for Beginners' cd-rom, and their three podcast series: ‘Spanish Podcasts for Beginners', 'Spanish Phrasebook on Podcast' and 'Spanish Vocabulary Flashcards'.

Visitors are welcome to download these lessons and use them on their computers and mp3 players, or simply listen to them on the spanish-bookworld.com website.

Apart from all those free Spanish lessons, Spanish Bookworld also has text and audio samples of some of the most popular Spanish learning courses on the market.

Over the next few weeks and months, Spanish Bookworld will regularly add new free Spanish lessons to their collection. The next major step will be a set of Spanish lessons for children on interactive multimedia pdf which visitors will be able to download both from spanish-bookworld.com and from iTunes.

All the free Spanish lessons on Spanish Bookworld have been recorded by native Spanish speakers and written by experienced Spanish teachers. With those lessons, visitors can develop their listening and speaking skills, as well as reading and writing. There is also plenty of free information on how to learn a foreign language and tips on what to look for in Spanish language courses.

5 Tips for Creating a Press Release That Gets Attention

With recession clouds looming overhead, many entrepreneurs will be celebrating National Small Business Week next week by looking for ways to trim their marketing costs. Stepping up your PR program is a great strategy, as long as you aren't sending out snore-inducing press releases that have no hopes of getting covered.

"A press release about your new logo or board position is a waste of time. Would you read a story about that? Probably not—so put yourself in the reporter's shoes and find a hook that will appeal to their audience," says Tracy Needham, president of Compelling Communications, LLC, a marketing firm for small businesses. So here are her five tips to creating a press release that's worthy of being called news:

• Piggyback on stories that are already in the news. References to the economy, election, blockbuster movies, recent surveys, and latest celebrity antics can make your topic timely and up the interest factor.

• Tie your news to an upcoming holiday or event. Again, timeliness helps. The Boston Marathon and Earth Day both happen next week. You also have National Jellybean Day, Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, and William Shakespeare's birthday. Can your news relate to any of those?

• Share your expertise. A press release about an interior designer's new web site is sure to send the recipient to the delete key, but one about her 5 Secrets for Choosing and Hanging Wall Décor will generate a lot of traffic to the new site.

• Spot new trends. It may be a recurring issue in industry journals, a new product category at all the tradeshows, or a change in what your customers are asking for—but providing insight on an emerging trend is definitely newsworthy.

• Show the uniqueness of the solution. For those standard press releases about a new product or service, boost your chances of success by using customer stories to show how your offering benefits the publication's readers in a way most similar ones don't.

It may take a little more time to find an appealing hook for your story, but it's an investment that's sure to pay dividends. For more information on creating newsworthy press releases visit http://www.compellingezine.com/ for a free special report, The One Press Release You Can Write to Get Thousands of Dollars Worth of Free Publicity.

How U.S. Industries Save Money on Documents Using Good Readability

Right from their inception in the late 1940s, readability formulas revolutionized the writing style of everyone. Readability formulas affect every industry because of their all-appealing premise. These formulas make documents or text "readable" for the intended audience. Every industry has a target audience when it prepares any kind of text.

BUSINESSES

Many business owners and organizations constantly seek new ways to save money and increase profits. One such money-saving measure is to use readability formulas on all documents and materials. Readability formulas let you know if your text is readable by your target audience (your customers, suppliers, employees, etc). Studies show that readable text matched to the grade-level of your readers can increase their interest and improve your results to get your message across.

MILITARY and GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Military exercises involve many assessment tests for the trainees. Through these tests, the military determines the aptitude, cognitive skills, general learning ability, ability to perform on the job, and so on. These tests are vital for military training. Besides tests, the military uses training manuals to provide general and special training for personnel. If these important texts lack readability -- either too low or too high in readability -- the purpose of preparing these manuals is wasted. Using readability formulas before publishing these training manuals ensures trainees can process and understand the texts, and it can save time and money that you would have spent revising these texts.

PUBLISHING COMPANIES

The Internet era has helped the publishing industry explode into new media. We have publishers in print medium (newspapers, magazines, journals, books, textbooks, novels, etc.), television, radio, and the Internet. Whether you publish online or offline, you need to make your products as reader-friendly as possible to attract new readers and build a loyal customer base. Using readability formulas can help you publish readable text for your readers.

Readable books help promote student independence by encouraging self-selection of books, and also help teachers, librarians, and parents assist students in choosing grade-level books. Students won't shy away from choosing additional books if they find their books informative and readable.

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

The Healthcare Industry is paramount to any nation's economy. A vibrant healthcare industry ensures a healthy nation, and ensures a flourishing lifestyle for its citizens. It is vital to adopt simple modes of communications between healthcare professionals and their patients. One such way to improve communications in healthcare is by using readability formulas on documents as a means to communicate effectively with staff, patients, and healthcare suppliers. Readability formulas can improve patient education and awareness. Patients need to understand their ailments, prescribed drugs, risks and side effects of the drugs, clinical tests, when to contact their doctors, when to seek immediate medical attention, and so on. All of this is accomplished by communicating with the patient through written communications, verbal instructions, multimedia, etc. Many patients need written instructions for long-term reference, and they need to understand their healthcare material in simple terms. Using readability formulas can help hospitals prepare material that patients can read and understand at their reading-level.

INSURANCE INDUSTRY

An insurance policy is a legal document between the insurance company and the policyholder, and entails serious legal implications in case of a dispute. The insurance contract involves an elaborate documentation explaining the powers and liabilities of the parties to the contract. It contains lots of legalese and is often difficult to decipher the exact requirements and implications of an insurance policy. This difficult-to-read document is one major reason insurance disputes go to court. To help policyholders understand their policies, insurance companies should write their insurance documents in plain English, using simple words and sentences. Readability formulas can help the insurance industry to simplify their documents.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

The primary role of the education sector is to distill good education to students at different grade levels. Written text in the form of textbooks, journals, literature and so on, forms the backbone of a good education system. A "good" text forms the basis of a good learning experience for students. The definition of a "good" text includes its readability aspect, i.e., the text should be reader-friendly and should neither be too difficult nor too easy to read. It should be easy enough to comprehend and difficult enough to contribute to students' academic development. Readability formulas help assess and develop textbooks and other written material for the exact grade level. For instance, if you've prepared textbooks for third grade level students and the appropriate readability formula tells you the textbooks are for the fifth grade level, it's better to revise the text for easier reading.

Businesses and organizations can use a free readability formulas tester at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/ to find the reading-level of any document or to learn how to use readability formulas.

Why Editing Matters by Garry P Pierrepont

Someone who edits is called an editor. For writing (as opposed to editing films or music, for example) an editor does not do the same work as a proofreader. A proofreader will check a piece of writing for spelling, grammar and layout, among other things. An editor will not necessarily those things, but may be called upon to reduce, expand, organize or make other changes to written work. Editing does not only involve dealing with the words themselves, but also with the writer, making it a job for someone with interpersonal skills, attention to detail and some creativity.

Some writers rely heavily on their editors to turn their manuscripts into something salable, pulling threads together to create a completed piece - whether it's an article for a magazine, or a 600 page novel.

In publishing there are often several layers of editorial responsibility. Junior editorial assistants report to senior-level editorial managers and directors and these report to senior executive editors.

The responsibility for taking a product (e.g. magazine, book or website) to final release lies with the senior executive editor - or equivalent. Executive editors used to be called editors-in-chief, but the latter title is not used so much these days. They are responsible for the content of a publication, setting standards for performance, as well as less tangible skills such as motivating and developing staff. The executive editor also has responsibility for strategic and operational planning and the publication budget.

At a high level, editing may involve pulling in different pieces of work into a single book, either many works from a single author, or many works from many authors.

At a more detailed level, but perhaps more critically, an editor (here known as a substantive editor) will help to improve the writing of the author to ensure that they say what they mean to say. Many editors do this without the specific title of substantive editor. The most skilled at this discipline can become ghost writers who write anything from articles through to books based on information gleaned from someone who may not want or be able to write for themselves.

Depending on the size of a publishing house, many of these roles may be carried out by one person, skilled in everything from proofreading to ghost writing.

The key points for a writer to note are that:

• having written the work they will know what they are trying to say and may miss ambiguities or loss of sense

• they may be so familiar with the work that they may not see all the errors (the wood for the trees)

• exciting authors are not necessarily the most skilled writers of grammar or spelling.

That is why editing is so important!

Author: Garry Pierrepont

If you want your articles or book edited to an excellent standard, we can help you. Look for us at http://www.writeitclearly.com/

Best of the Worst in Current English

A common complaint of word snobs and word lovers, the "death of the English language" is not a likely complaint of contemporary dictionary editors. But at Webster's New World College Dictionary, April is a fine time to indulge in a good off-duty rant -- a yearly tongue-in-cheek exercise for the dictionary's editors. Here are the best of the worst from this year's contenders:

Most irksome euphemism: issue. We used to have problems; now we have issues (or concerns).

Worst replacement for good old "yes" or "I agree": absolutely (runner up: definitely).

Ugliest two words in contemporary English: like and go. "And she goes, 'I couldn't believe it!' and I'm like, 'You didn't know?'"

Most cheapened cherished word: awesome.

Worst unnecessary lead-in: I mean. If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't be saying it!

Most infuriating idiocy in news headlines: neck in neck, seen in the New York Times, the Akron Beacon-Journal, and too many other journalistic sources.

Worst orthographic innovation: the cutesy-poo, middle school infatuation with stunt spelling, which began as early as Mötley Crüe, progressed to phat, and continues downward with boyz.

Worst grammatical abuse: the present progressive: i'm lovin' it, without a capital, without a period, the idiocy reduced to its essentials. Well, McDonald's thought it so fine that they took out a trademark on it.

There! We feel better already. We'll go back to being nonjudgmental now.

Source: http://www.webstersnewworld.com/

How to Write for Your Readers' Grade-Level

Your writing skills may be superb, but what if your readers can't understand your text? Technically, your readers may have problems with your document's "readability," but what truly counts is the document's "understandability." Most average literate Americans can read a well-crafted document; the question is will readers understand the text in the same manner you want them to? This is where determining the "understandability" of your documents makes more sense. A scholarly piece of text is of no value to a sixth grade readability level reader. Similarly, a disoriented piece of writing makes no sense to a reader with a twelfth-grade readability level. It's always advised to determine the reading level of the text for the targeted readership before publishing it.

A handful of popular readability formulas are available to address this issue. These formulas apply a mathematical application to a text to determine its readability grade level. Presently, there are more than 200 readability formulas with varying degrees of accuracy; the more accurate ones include: Dale-Chall, Flesch Readability Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formula, Fry Graph, etc. No matter how many readability formulas you use on your documents, the best approach is to write clear, uncluttered, short-sentenced documents, with the use of comprehensible words. One such program called StyleWriter helps writers and non-writers write in plain English.

MS-Word has an inbuilt feature that can assess the readability of a document and give you the results of Flesch Readability Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formulas. Here are the instructions to determine the readability of a text in MS-Word:

1. Write or copy the text on a Word file.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then select Spelling and Grammar.
3. Select the Check Grammar with Spelling check box.
4. Select the Show Readability Statistics check box, and then click OK.
5. On the Standard toolbar, click Spelling and Grammar…it will display the information about the reading level of the document

This is the easiest option to determine the readability level of your text. However, if you want to apply different formulas on your text, then you'll have to perform manual calculations under the respective readability formulas. Refer to www.ReadabilityFormulas.com for a complete list of readability formulas and their calculations.

The crux of any document is to convey a message. Keeping in mind the target audience, your text should communicate the contents effectively. If the readability level of your text is too hard for your target audience, your first reaction should be to simplify the text. Simplifying your text reduces the readability level and ensures your target reader can process and comprehend your material.

Here are some tips to simplify your writing to reduce the reading level of your document:

1. Use short sentences with commonly used words. This is generally the best way to write clearly for any audience. Try to restrict sentence length to 20 words. Simplicity in documents is vital. Studies have shown that majority of Americans have average reading capabilities. If you can re-word or re-state your ideas using simpler words, then do so (unless the target audience has higher reading grade level).

2. Besides simplicity in your documents, be brief and precise in your writing. If you can state the same point fewer words, then don't go on elaborating. Every reader prefers small text that conveys the information precisely.

3. Use headings, sub-headings, bullets, numbers, tables, highlighters, and text formatting (bold, italicized, underline etc.), wherever possible. You can feel the visual difference in your documents with the astute use of these tools. If a document appears inviting, the readers' interest will grow towards reading it.

4. Avoid using polysyllabic words (words with more than three syllables), as many readers find such words frustrating to read.

5. The best approach to simplify a document is to compare it with a popular text that also has the same target audience and is considered ideal by that audience.

After determining the readability level of the text, you can modify your text to match the desired readability level. Of course, editing and rewriting might be useless if you don't know the grade level of your target audience. Readability formulas will only assess the readability of the text, not of the reader.

(C) http://www.lousywriter.com/

Free Guide on How to Increase Search Engine Visibility

Small business owners, bloggers, and SEO copywriters can now learn SEO press release writing and submission techniques used by one of the web's top SEO press release writers.

Christine O'Kelly, an SEO press release writer for businesses and SEO companies and the owner of the SEO copywriting company SEO Content Solutions, has published a free resource on how to write SEO press releases on the social networking site HubPages. As a companion to the resource, O'Kelly has also published a reference guide on Slideshare titled Where and How to Submit SEO Press Releases.

In the guide, O'Kelly shows how one of her press releases ranked in 5 out of the top 10 spots in Google for her client's keywords.

"I've spent years writing press releases, trying new strategies to discover what works and what doesn't, and evaluating different press release distribution resources to determine their SEO value. I've made plenty of mistakes before perfecting a system and hope to show readers how to avoid these same mistakes while getting the most out of their SEO press releases," says O'Kelly.

Though O'Kelly says that SEO press release writing is one of the most effective forms of link building and search engine visibility, she says she's happy to give the information away at no charge in order to help others get more exposure for their businesses.

"SEO press releases are a great way for startup companies to gain visibility at a very low cost if they want to invest the time to learn how to write and submit them properly. The established businesses that I work with don't mind spending $145 for an SEO press release that they know is written and submitted properly and can gain them almost instant visibility in the search engines for their keywords," says O'Kelly.

The e-book version of How to Write Search Engine Optimized Press Releases can be downloaded at http://seocontentsolutions.com/seo-press-releases.html. From the SEO Content Solutions website, visitors can also find links to the online version of the e-book as well as the companion slideshow.

Free White Paper on White Paper Marketing

Virginia-based consulting firm B2B Marketing Pro has released a "how-to" white paper entitled "White Paper Marketing: The Secrets of Navigating from Complex Corporate Knowledge to Recognizable Results." In the downloadable 15-page paper author Toby Younis clearly explains how B2B companies can convert knowledge into content, and content into measurable marketing value.

Download of the entire paper is free but requires pre-registration. Interested parties can read the paper's abstract as well as the introductory section here.

The paper explains how B2B companies can overcome the challenges of publishing white papers for marketing purposes, and covers a full range of topics from "Harvesting Company Knowledge" to "White Paper Metrics." Author Younis said, "This new paper is the result of 25 years experience helping B2B companies get the most bang for their marketing buck by thinking organically about their marketing programs, especially those in support of their sales teams." He added, "Most B2B sales pros would trade their gym club membership for a well-structured and composed white paper. It's up to the marketing team to make it happen."

The firm also announced a webinar on the same topic on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 1:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The webinar is free but by invitation only. Intended for marketing professionals in B2B companies, the webinar expands on the information in the white paper, and allows for up to 30 minutes of live Q&A.

How Email Could Function Better in the Presidential Campaigns

Just another email to skip over. That's what comes to mind for many when emails from Presidential hopefuls fill their inboxes. And as the latest emails will likely not be read, they can't be doing any good for campaigners or voters.

After email savants like Brent Rosengren (Why the Presidential Candidates Flunked the Email Test) denounced the candidates' email practices and after Obama suffered a hit from anti-spammers signing up fake email addresses, Presidential campaigners began to fix some problems.

While their efforts have succeeded in improving the effectiveness of the sign-up process and email diction, campaigners have not fully addressed the motivational factor that is crucial in effectively using email marketing software - a problem easily solved by applying techniques from the business world when formatting emails.

What's in it for me? Obama and Hillary's most recent campaigns are unclear on this issue. The latest email campaign from Bill Clinton includes subject line: 'Not big on quitting'. There is no subject performing an action in this subject line. Who is not big on quitting? Hillary? Bill? The email team? The supporters? Next, take the latest message from the Obama team: 'What's next.' Again there is no subject, nor is there an action in this line. Open the email and find the first calls to action; 'contribute by our midnight Monday deadline' and 'check out these resources' by Bill Clinton and Obama, respectively.

Compare Obama's and Clinton's email marketing campaigns to an email marketing campaign from a market-leading retailer. Subject lines like 'Tee Time: Buy 2 Save 20%' and 'All The Dresses You Need For Spring' clearly state the advantage of clicking and reading the email before email users have read any content. The first line uses two key verbs, 'buy' and 'save,' while the second line directly addresses the consumer.

A simple rewrite of the subject lines with a seller-buyer framework could deliver: 'Deadline Ahead: Don't Quit, Act Now' and 'Everything You Should Know about Obama.' These subject lines create a sense of urgency and shift the locus of power from the sender to the recipients of the messages.

Still beating around the bush in their subject lines, Hillary's camp has made significant changes in the body of their emails. In an effort to create easy-to-read, visually stimulating content, they use bold font every few lines to underscore main ideas in the paragraphs. They also feature a bold-colored countdown clock with a yellow 'Contribute Now' button link. Similarly, Obama's email highlights information by categorizing it under 3 headings (The Basics, Organizing, and Fundraising).

Lamentably, emails from both camps lack visuals. Obama and Hillary rarely include photos in their emails, and McCain offers just a few small photos in his email banner. In contrast, retailers, internet providers and pizza joints alike have been utilizing large picture links to attract consumers. The picture link is standard practice today.

Democratic nominees recognize that they need to modify their marketing strategy, however, and have started using email marketing software to offer campaign contributors sweepstakes prizes, such as a private meeting with Obama or Clinton. Unfortunately, these offers can be difficult to find. For example, Obama sent an email with the subject 'Deadline, but the email included a drawing to win a dinner with Barack Obama himself, which was mentioned towards the bottom of the email.

Obama's use of contribution incentives in his email marketing campaigns could explain why his email program ranks third on Email Data Source's 2008 Email Brand Equity Ranking while McCain, who does not use similar incentives, is not among the top 5 of that list. Other factors may include the perceived lack of imperativeness in the emails or the news-like headlines in McCain's subject lines.

Four years ago, pundits, bloggers and the general public declared that the Presidential campaigns lagged far behind the business, technology, and entertainment sectors in internet marketing practices. In this election, Presidential hopefuls have succeeded in closing the gap in the email race, but have not yet achieved parity.

Source: http://www.email-marketing-options.com/.

Write Clearly, Write Concisely, and Write Correctly

Some would-be writers think they can dash off an article without learning the basics of grammar. Just as any craftsperson spends time honing his skills to make the perfect piece of craft, so must a writer work hard to write an error-free, grammatically-correct article. True, some errors are typos, but this reflects a certain laziness on the author's part. A writer should closely examine his article before sending it off.

Don't trust your spell checker. No automated spell-checker can alert you to every error. Whose and who's, lose and loose, quiet and quite, its and it's are all legitimate words, but your spell checker won't underscore them in red as potential style usage errors. Spell-checkers are not clever enough yet to tell which word you meant to use. And if the error is not due to a typo, it means you need to consult a dictionary to check any uncertainties. Many writers recommend using WhiteSmoke English Grammar Software to improve their word processor's spell checking and correct style usage errors.

Remember using a word ending in " 's" means there is a letter missing. "It's" means "it is." If you are unsure which one to use, try saying the sentence both ways.

For instance…

"It's a good day today / It is a good day today." The latter example makes perfect sense, so it is okay to use "it's."

But….

"Here is a rabbit. Its burrow is over there."

Does, "It is burrow is over there" make sense? No.

Of course if you said, "The rabbit's burrow is over there," then the apostrophe denotes possession (and only one rabbit), not a missing letter.

"The rabbits burrow is over there," (with no apostrophe) means there are several rabbits.

For the record, "loose" means not tight, while "lose" means you've lost it.

"Who's" is short for "who is," but "whose" is the possessive form of "who" (as in "Whose is that car?") .

"Quiet" means "hush", while "quite" is an adverb (which should usually be left out).

"I felt quite silly," sounds better as, "I felt silly".

"I felt like an idiot," may be even better.

Sometimes rules of grammar inhibit good writing. If this is the case, feel free to break the rules, otherwise your writing will become pedantic and mechanical. One such rule is you should not begin a sentence with a conjunction. You can use both "and" and "but" to begin a sentence, or even a paragraph, but not to end one. Starting a sentence with either of these conjunctions can be a natural transition to carry the reader forward.

A rule of style tells us to never use the same word twice in a sentence; but if you have to search for several other clumsy substitutes to do the job, then please repeat. Repetition of someone's name is a little different. You can easily replace it with "he" or "she" as the sentence progresses.

A persistent myth posing as a rule tells us not to end a sentence with a preposition. Winston Churchill made fun of this by stating, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put." Of course a sentence may end with a preposition. A good rule is to write the way you speak. But unless you have grown up speaking English, ignore this rule too.

A few more pointers…

1) When writing an article, watch that you don't repeat information unnecessarily. Even if you use different wording, it still gives the reader the impression that you think he was too dumb to get it the first time.

2) Use short sentences more than long ones, but do vary the length. Use a free readability tester at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/ to determine if your readers can read and understand your content.

3) Break up the text by using bullet points, or asking a question. Why? It will add interest and prevent your reader falling asleep – or simply turning the page.

4) Use short paragraphs too. This will make the job of reading it all seem much easier. In this fast-paced world readers are mostly in a hurry. If they come to a huge block of text with no white space, they'll usually skip most of it.

If you keep these tips in mind, your articles will keep both editors and readers happy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jesse Dawson is the author of "Can YOU Read Me Now? How to Use Readability Formulas to Write for Your Target Audience," a free e-book available at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/. He is a contributing writer for http://www.lousywriter.com/, a free website that helps writers and non-writers learn about english grammar. He also serves as a forum moderator at http://www.writinganswers.com/, where he helps writers and non-writers fix English writing problems.

Quality English Speakers Needed To Grow Philippine Contact Center Industry

Ask any contact center HR manager what keeps them up at night, and the answer will be the same...finding staff to fill seats. Figures released October 2007 by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) confirm a stark future unless the number of qualified English speakers increases rapidly within the contact and outsourcing industry.

The BPO industry currently employees approximately 230,000 people contributing US$9 billion to the local economy, based on a multiplier effect of 3 times revenue for all offshore and outsourcing of services (O&O). The industry is aiming for growth of 40% by 2010, but without a rapid increase in the number of employee candidates with English proficiency, it will struggle to even maintain its current level of growth.

"The challenge is twofold; developing better English skills amongst those who already work in the industry, or are very close to being near-hire candidates, as well as perfecting a method for generating new English language skills amongst a broader base of Filipinos", said Martin Conboy of Drake International. "The world is waiting to see if the Philippines can grasp this opportunity."

This means up-skilling alternative labor pools and supporting high school and university students through their language training in order to guarantee an ample supply of candidates for the foreseeable future, especially in Next Wave cities.

Overcoming the challenge means addressing the inherent disconnect between Filipinos who aspire to work in O & O centers and the employers who need them. This disconnect is skills based, and mainly involves English comprehension and fluency.

Employees with strong English skills deliver high value into the industry, even more so than offshore contracts, but in order to tap into the full growth potential of the industry a source of standardised English training guaranteeing results is required. This training must be the equalizer that is accessible to Filipinos, no matter where they live, and conveniently available at any time of day or night.

Elsewhere in the world, online language training has been helping to develop a ready stream of proficient English speakers, and the technology to achieve this is now available in the Philippines.
Englishlink , owned by Drake Training Systems Limited (DTSL), is the world's first fully video-streamed online English school. Build by qualified and experienced English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, the lessons are guaranteed to get results. Through guided teacher-led classes, users develop the skills needed to increase fluency and develop confidence in English-speaking situations.

According to Lesley Rogan, creator of Englishlink: " I have spent quite a bit of time in Manila, and I see great potential in many Filipinos who would not be considered near-hires. With our guidance, and dedicated work on their part, we can help them get the jobs they dream of having, while working with industry to stay on course with the 2010 growth vision."

Website: http://www.englishlink.com/

Convert Your Paper to iPaper

Scribd, the established leader in document sharing and publishing on the Web with 16 million unique monthly visitors, has launched "Convert Your Paper to iPaper," a new initiative that allows anyone to mail physical paper documents to Scribd to be scanned and saved on Scribd's website using Scribd's iPaper format. This program is open to everyone and is completely free of charge.

Scribd's mission is to unlock the world's information by making it really easy for people to share any kind of document content online. "Convert Your Paper to iPaper" makes it even easier for people without scanners or even Internet access to publish on the Web. Your favorite recipes, newspaper articles or any print content can now be digitized and preserved flawlessly on the Internet. Scribd is making it easier than ever to share your documents with friends and family.

To participate, just send a brief description of the type and quantity of your documents to paper@scribd.com. A Scribd representative will reply shortly with further instructions for how and where to mail the documents. Scribd will have the content scanned and published on Scribd.com to be easily shared with anyone. Include your Scribd username along with your paper so that your content will be published in your account. If you are not a Scribd user, include your email address, and Scribd will email you a link to your published content.

For more information about Scribd and how to have your paper documents preserved and published online, visit http://www.scribd.com/paper.

How to Write Better Business Documents in Plain English

In the past decade people wrote to impress others, rather than to communicate with them. Many business writers used formal language and multi-syllable words that no one ever said out loud (like "notwithstanding" and "heretofore"). Lawyers still speak and write in this manner, called “legalese,” which is a complicated and unnecessary writing style.

Today's business writing style is less formal and far better. You must embrace both clarity and brevity to write properly in our fast-paced, information-bloated world.

Here are five essential tips to write better business documents:

1. WRITE BELOW THE 8th-GRADE LEVEL. Some writers worry that this may insult their readers' intelligence. In reality, no one complains that something is too easy to understand. Studies show that writing below the 8th-grade level achieves the best results. Your readers are not dumb; they just don't have time to process and recall complicated messages.

Here's how to check the readability of your writing when using MS Word: Under "Tools" click "Options" and then "Spelling & Grammar." Select the "Check grammar with spelling" box and the "Show readability statistics" box then click "OK." The next time you complete a spell check, it will display information about the reading level. If the "Flesch-Kincaid grade level" is above 8, edit your document to make it easier to understand. You can also go to http://www.readabilityformulas.com/ and use a free readability formulas tester to determine the reading-level of your materials.

2. GET TO THE POINT IMMEDIATELY. As a general rule, state the reason for your correspondence in the first sentence.

Good: "We've filled this position and are not accepting applications."

Bad: "Unfortunately, the position for which you applied has already been filled and we are therefore no longer accepting applications."

3. GET ACTIVE (use active voice, not passive). Writing in passive voice makes you write wordy sentences; instead, write in active voice for clarity and impact.

Active Voice: "We like your ideas and will implement them by the end of the year."

Passive Voice: "The ideas you proposed have been reviewed and found to be acceptable and appropriate. An implementation schedule has been developed with the goal of being completed by the end of the year."

4. USE FEWER WORDS. People are busy; be brief!

Good: "We will not tolerate sexual harassment. Please read the attached policy. Call Mr. Smith if you have questions."

Bad: "This is to inform all employees that sexual harassment of any kind will not be tolerated under any circumstances by this organization. Be advised that, in order to clarify the company position on this subject, the attached policy has been developed and provided for your reference. Your cooperation in this important matter is appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Smith if he can be of further assistance or provide you with additional information about this issue."

5. INCLUDE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION. If you are writing for a purpose other than to inform, tell your readers exactly what you want them to do.

Good: "Please sign the attached form in Block 12 and return it to me by June 1st."

Bad: "It is our desire to receive an indication of your concurrence as soon as possible."

Bonus tip:

6. DO NOT REPEAT NUMBERS. Spelling out numbers and then repeating them as digits within parentheses is redundant and unnecessary. Use this basic rule: less than 10 or beginning a sentence, spell it out; more than 10, use digits. Do NOT do both!

Good: "We collected 13 samples."

Bad: "Thirteen (13) samples were collected."

Many writers and non-writers use a plain English editor called StyleWriter to write simply, clearly, and correctly.

In summary, you should write business correspondence in a format and style similar to your verbal communications. TRANSLATION: WRITE LIKE YOU TALK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Dawson is the author of "Can YOU Read Me Now? How to Use Readability Formulas to Write for Your Target Audience," a free e-book available at www.ReadabilityFormulas.com. He is a contributing writer for www.LousyWriter.com, a free website that helps writers and non-writers learn about english grammar. He also serves as a forum moderator at www.WritingAnswers.com, where he helps writers and non-writers fix English writing problems.