Business and Corporate Blogging Service | He Blogs, She Blogs

Speling and Grammer Do Count

Posted by Laura on January 26th, 2009 at 11:03pm

Putrid Prose

I regularly create media kits for authors. The authors I work with complete an extensive survey, answering questions about their background, their book’s content, and how they’d like to see their book publicized. I incorporate their responses into a press release, author bio, book recap, catalog copy, and so on.

Here is one author’s response to a couple of questions, copied verbatim from his survey:

How will you help promote your book?

I wouldn’t have a clue. I am the worse salesman in the world.

Has your writing been published in any publications?

Oh no, I’ve hand writen stuf,but nobody could get past the first two paragraphs because they were to buisy laughing at my spelling and grammer.

Okay, future English teachers… have at it! How many errors can you find in the author’s responses?

What advice would you give to this aspiring author?

1 Comment

Posted under: Punctuation, Putrid Prose, Writing

6 Reasons I’m Glad I Canceled My Newspaper Subscription

Posted by Laura on January 21st, 2009 at 6:00am

I am a news junkie. Reading the daily newspaper-the printed version that’s delivered to my home-borders on an addiction for me.

But two months ago, I did the unthinkable (at least, in my mind). I canceled my subscription. 1114925_coffee-cup-and-newspaper

Bottom line:
I opted out because of the newspaper’s shoddy marketing. The product continues to shrink while the price continues to expand. And the quality of the “news” in these slimmed-down newspapers is mediocre, at best.

Now that I’ve survived newspaper withdrawal, I must confess: my life is better now that I’m newspaper-free. Here are six reasons why:

1. Reporters no longer have undue influence in shaping my opinions.
In the seven days following the November election, my daily newspaper published two editorials and an editorial column on a hot-button social issue. They accused anyone who disagreed with their opinion of being stupid. The three columns in question ignored the facts and made no attempt to present the opposing viewpoint (something reporters are supposed to do, even in editorial columns).

I am fed up with irresponsible journalists who claim objectivity and slant stories according to their personal worldview. Journalists wield an inordinate amount of power in shaping public opinion; some of them abuse that power.

The only way to put a stop to the abuse is to stand firm against it. I wrote a letter to the editor explaining exactly why I was unsubscribing. Then I hit ‘em where it hurts most by refusing to continue to pay for irresponsible reporting.

2. I get the same news online-for free.
Because I spend all day in front of a computer, I assumed I needed tangible newsprint to leaf through during my coffee break. I didn’t. I now read news from a variety of media outlets, via e-mail digests, RSS feeds-even Twitter. And I don’t pay a penny.

3. My news intake is more well-rounded.
Our large-circulation daily paper is increasingly filled with mostly bad news: violent crime, tragedy, disaster. While I feel compelled to keep up with what’s happening in the world, the constant inundation of bad news is truly depressing. Receiving my news online gives me the option to skim the headlines without feeling obligated to read every article.

4. I have more time.
I used to spend upwards of an hour per day reading the paper. Now I spend 10 minutes. As a result, my workday has become more productive.

5. I feel greener.
My hubby and I have recycled our newspapers for over 20 years, and unfortunately, the daily newspaper takes up the bulk of the room in our recycling bin. I’ve noticed that the bin has been 1/3 less full lately.

6. I’m less swayed by advertising.
Until I stopped reading the paper, I didn’t realize just how many ads it contains for non-essential, spendy stuff- close to 80 percent of the paper is advertising. Sure, online newspapers contain ads, but they’re easy to ignore. Eliminating the daily bombardment of advertising has eliminated the temptation to buy, buy, buy.

What about you? Have you abandoned the daily rag? What are your fave alternative news outlets?

Tags: irresponsible journalism, Marketing, newspapers, online news

5 Comments

Posted under: Marketing

The Most Delicious Articles About Blogging, Marketing & Writing

Posted by Laura on January 20th, 2009 at 3:24pm

I often bookmark helpful articles about blogging, marketing, and writing on Delicious.

Here’s a bit about several I have bookmarked lately:

The Ultimate Small Business Twitter List

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends provides lotsa links of folks who address small business issues on Twitter.

Press Releases Are Useless

In this opinion article, Penny Sansevieri explains why she thinks crafting and sending press releases via fax or e-mail is a colossal waste of time. Okay, so the article’s a thinly-veiled pitch for her business, but who cares? It offers some good tips for how to optimize your press releases.

Ten rules for effective corporate blogging

Thinking of starting a blog for your business? Check out John Burg’s “rules,” and then contact HeBlogsSheBlogs.com. We provide a variety of biz blogging services, from turnkey packages to training for do-it-yourselfers.

10 WordPress Plugins for New Blogs

If, like me, you use WordPress, you’re always on the lookout for the latest, greatest plug-ins. ProBlogger Darren Rowse shares 10 of his faves.

50 Simple Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers

Daniel Scocco of DailyBlog Tips gives you more tips then you ever thought possible for driving traffic to your blog.

21 Irresistibly Irresponsible Ways to Tweet with Greater Confidence

You’ve probably been overwhelmed by blogging gurus who tell you how to get the most out of Twitter. In this fun post, Joanna Young of Confident Writing takes a lighthearted approach to Twittermania.

We’ve got lots more articles bookmarked on our Delicious account - how to brand your blog/Web site, 12 ways to sell social media to your boss, marketing etiquette, and more.

Subscribe to our Delicious feed to keep up with the latest articles on biz blogging, marketing, and writing.

5 Comments

Posted under: Biz Blogging, Blogging, Marketing, Social Networking, Twitter, Writing

The Greatest Book on Sales & Marketing

Posted by Jim on January 15th, 2009 at 5:00am

If I asked you to name the five best books on selling, Green Eggs and Ham probably wouldn’t leap into your mind.

But it should.

Immortal Sam I Am is one of the greatest salesmen ever. Here’s two reasons why:

1. He tries to close the sale sixteen times before he gets a yes.

Sixteen! The average salesperson asks twice.

Sam knew the average sale is made when the customer is asked five times.

Sam knew that 67% of all shoppers expect to return home with the item they went out to look for, but only 24% actually do.

2. Sam knew that simply asking again and again wasn’t enough.

That’s not closing, that’s being a pain in the backside.

This is key:
Sam came up with sixteen options, ideas, new ways of thinking about green eggs and ham.

Would you like them in a box? With a fox? In a house? With a mouse? In a train? In the rain? Here or there?

Cheesy sales trainers love to spout, “Ya gotta remember ABC! Always Be Closing!” But what does that mean? Hammer on people till they give in? Let us hope not. Let’s hope your sales people think ABC-UWI-TWHP. Always be coming up with innovative ideas that will help people.

Oh, you’re not a sales person? But of course you are. If you’re alive you’re selling. Your ideas, your writing, your blog, your Web site, a product, your business … everything.

Stick with it. Get creative. Be like Sam.

(Did you know a Random House editor bet ol’ Ted Geisel $50 he couldn’t write a book using only fifty words? Green Eggs and Ham was the result.)

Tags: greatest sales training book, He Blogs She Blogs, Marketing, sales

2 Comments

Posted under: Marketing

Painful Similes and Metaphors from High School Students

Posted by Laura on January 12th, 2009 at 9:55am

That fella’s the raspberry seed in my wisdom tooth. -The Music Man

You can almost feel it, can’t you? That tiny, irritating raspberry seed lodged in your tooth (or worse yet, in your gums).

A good metaphor or simile breathes life into a sentence. It helps the reader’s mind make fresh correlations between smells, sounds, taste, touch. A bad metaphor kills the sentence deader than a chainsaw murderer wielding a plastic chainsaw from Toys R Us. Get the idea?

Before we launch into today’s examples of putrid prose, allow me to refresh your memory about the difference between a metaphor and a simile:

Metaphor - a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money)
Simile - Using like or as to compare two unlike things (as in cheeks like roses)

One of the best places to find funny figures of speech is in student-written essays. Here are some ‘winners’ from excerpts submitted by English teachers across the U.S. (vote for your favorites!)

Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides
gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like
underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes
just before it throws up.
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.
He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
McBride fell twelve stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.
Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry
them in hot grease.
Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one
that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil,
this plan just might work.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating
for a while.
He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but
a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or
something.
The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg
behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because
of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a
formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with
power tools.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a
bowling ball wouldn’t.
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the
grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left
Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19
p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as
if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

Which one made you laugh hardest?

1 Comment

Posted under: Putrid Prose, Writing

Most Popular Free-for-All Columns

Posted by on January 9th, 2009 at 6:00am

Our Free-For-All column runs on Fridays and is just that-a potpourri of the strange, the unusual, and whatever strikes our fancy.

Here are reader favorites from 2008 (feel free to reprint the links on your own site):

Also in this series:

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Posted under: Free-For-All

Create Your Own Movie Blockbuster

Posted by on January 8th, 2009 at 6:00am

Here’s a creative writing exercise for you. Combine two movies you’d never associate with one another into one new blockbuster.

Examples:

Iron Music Man

A combo of The Music Man (1962) and Iron Man (2008)

A billionaire genius, Professor Harold Stark, invents an indestructible suit of armor made from the brass of 76 trombones. Professor Stark dons the suit, transforms into a superhero, and saves the world by breaking into song at unexpected moments.

It’s a Wonderful Matrix

A combo of It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Matrix (1999)

George Bailey and Neo switch places to see what life would be like in each other’s worlds. Neo fights Mr. Potter in a Kung Fu duel to the death, and George sets everyone in the matrix free-and gets Clarence his wings-by becoming friends with all the machines.

Your turn!
List the title of your movie, the movies it originated from, and a 1-2 sentence plot summary.

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Posted under: Writing

Improving Your Web Site

Posted by on January 7th, 2009 at 5:00am

Laura’s and my friend, Mary DeMuth, owns a private e-mail loop for advanced writers. Last Thursday she invited all members of the loop to submit their Web sites for critique.

Some of the sites were excellent. Others needed a significant overhaul.

I learned a ton from the comments. My guess is most of us did.

If you’re a serious writer you probably have critique partners that give feedback on your writing.

But when’s the last time you asked them about your Web site? Never? Yeah, you’re not alone.

As we’ve talked about before, a Web site is an expensive, elaborate business card designed get people to engage with you. It’s your billboard! Not just hanging above one street in one city; it’s worldwide.

If this “card” or “billboard” looks amateurish people will assume the same about you and your business.

So ask. I realize your friends and critique partners might not be pros at analyzing Web sites. But they represent the general public. If you get the same concern from two or three of them I would make the change. Let us know what you discover.

By the way, Mary runs a blog called Wanna Be Published. It’s outstanding. If you’re a writer go there. Now. And sign up for her free RSS feed.

Mary also owns The Writing Spa. If you’re looking to break into the world of publishing, and need coaching and training, there are few other places where your money would be better spent.

Tags: free critique of Web site, Web site improvement, Web sites

1 Comment

Posted under: Advertising, Marketing, Writing

Pet Peeves About Blogs, Blogging, and Bloggers

Posted by Laura on January 6th, 2009 at 10:09am

We asked our Twitter followers to share things that irritate them about blogs, blogging, and bloggers:

@couponbiz
I don’t like when blogs have no “Follow this Blog” button! So many blogs if I find a good one I need it on my list!

@juliebonnheath & Marketing Jewels blog
Blog spam. If you want a link, at least pretend you are interested in the content.

@Deltasierra
My #1 pet peeve is a nonexistent or nonfunctioning RSS capability. I like to aggregate my favorite blogs.

@myfriendamy
Partial feed (we assume Amy means that when she reads a blog-either at the blog site itself, via RSS feed, or via e-mail digest-only an excerpt from the post is visible, forcing her to click a link to finish reading the post. We hate this, too, Amy!).

@heblogssheblogs - Laura Christianson

White type on a black or dark background. Hard on my aging eyes!
Commenters who ask a question and beg you to respond, but don’t leave their name. It’s difficult to forge a relationship with John or Jane Doe.

@heblogssheblogs - Jim Rubart

Blogs that don’t provide an RSS or e-mail subscription option.
Blogs so busy they make the New York phone book look like a great example of white space.

Your turn! What bugs you about blogs, blogging, and/or other bloggers? Let’s purge the rants from our system so we can move forward on a positive note in ‘09.

8 Comments

Posted under: Blogging, Twitter