August, 2010 | Dangerous Common Sense

Let Me Spell it Out for You

Want to hire me as an SEO expert to make your business show up high on SERPs?

Say what?

I’m asking if you want to use my Search Engine Optimization skills to get your web site to display at the top of the list of Google’s Search Engine Result Pages.

Oh.

I write and edit a lot of copy for clients, and about half of them send me material that starts off reading like a cryptographer’s training manual.

My church seems particularly addicted to using arcane acronyms when publicizing its events. Invitations are written like: “Come to UUSF’s SCW luncheon in the MLK with PCD delegates.” Sounds like something you want to do, right?

The addiction to alphabet soup acronyms and jargon isn’t always accidental. When I have replaced “UU’s welcome you…” with “Unitarian Universalists welcome you…” I have gotten told off by some of the original authors. “‘Unitarian Universalist’ is too wordy,” I have been instructed.

Yes, “Unitarian Universalist” is indeed a mouthful. If the organization’s name is too long, then perhaps a catchier name should be adopted. But, announcement writers shouldn’t adopt in-group shorthand in their work. Non-Unitarian Universalists may not have a clue what a “UU” is. Once readers have been introduced to the full term, the abbreviation can be specified and used later on. “Unitarian Universalists (UUs) welcome you to the UU picnic.” Or, something more exciting, but along the same lines.

Similarly, when I rewrite messages about services from professionals like lawyers and accountants, I am questioned if my straight-forward, non-jargon language sounds educated enough. It’s like a potential client won’t hire the firm if the attorney’s web site uses English sentences instead of Latin-infused contract terminology.

Here’s the truth: visitors will click away from your web site if you speak to them in code. Unless you are the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, NASA-like acronyms make you sound cultish and not open to newcomers. And, using industry jargon — whether it is educated jargon or just simple convenient jargon — puts distance between you and your potential client.

Remember who you are writing for and leave both abbreviations and in-terms out of your writing.

By Ozdachs|2010-08-28T15:35:36-07:00August 28th, 2010|Blogging, Marketing, Web Design|0 Comments

Write Like Walt Disney

I am not a prude. I am not a prude. I am not a prude. But, …

Language standards today allow for four-letter swear words on news reports, and Congressional hearings feature six-letter scatological adjectives. But, …

If you’re writing a newsletter, web site, or blog with the intention of attracting clients, you still have to keep the language g-rated Disney clean.

I’ve struggled with my Puritanism as I’ve read blogs that have used street language for a service whose main clients are street-wise people. Doesn’t the author’s word choice show that the blogger is in touch with the client’s culture? Isn’t he legitimately reflecting the scenes he’s writing about?

I’ve struggled with my Puritanism as I’ve giggled over parody song lyrics that dive to the raunchy side. Aren’t the f-bombs part of the shock value of the humor?

The simple answer is, no. In marketing and sales, there no upside to alienating a single person with your language.

When you are trying to capture new business or to reach a new audience, the best words to use are those which are not going to be off-putting to any potential client. Moreover, you want to write using language that isn’t going to get your message blocked by any corporate word filter program (and, there are programs out there that are fussier than any old-fashioned schoolmarm!)

Think like the Wall Street Journal. Last week they reported:

… that Timberwolf was one s— deal,” Thomas Montag, who helped run Goldman’s securities business, wrote in a June 2007 email that was repeatedly referred to at the hearing.

See the full article, including information on language filters.

The message of corporate callousness was communicated. Unambiguously. Without the WSJ itself sounding like a low-life cad.

In the WSJ example, the writers were confronting a situation where the original information they were reporting on itself contained vulgar language. A Federal appeals court has said that a ban on fleeting instances of expletives by the FCC is unconstitutional, so the paper could have certainly argued that it needed to print the full six-letter adjective.

But, the Journal choose to communicate without offending. There was no external Post Office standards they were worried, about. Nonetheless, they chose to print the quotation without printing quite every character. The Jounal‘s decision was a wise decision, I think. No public library is going to cancel its subscription because of indecent content. No old fogy is going to stop his subscription, either.

On the other hand, too often gratuitous swearing simply cuts down on the reach of the message. One group’s whose singing talent and political humor I like is The Kinsey Sicks. They do a very fun and very raunchy adult cabaret show. Some of their songs are irredeemably obscene because of the sexual nature of the topic. But, none of their songs I heard at their show can be played on AM radio. In the middle of every political or social commentary, one of the crew for yuks shouts out a George Carlin no-no word. Sigh. The Kinsey Sicks will always have a limited audience.

No, I am not a prude. In fact, I doubt that I could be on live radio or TV very long before my speech patterns of an ex-police dispatcher betray me. I don’t judge people negatively because they use, ugh…., colorful language.

But, some people will think you’re uncouth if you use swear words. Some people will wonder about your business judgment if you use that kind of language in public.

And, you want both ex-police dispatchers and current schoolmarms to read your marketing material and to become your client.

By Ozdachs|2010-08-12T05:59:54-07:00August 12th, 2010|Blogging|0 Comments

Why Should I Put My Movie On YouTube?

You’ve created a short video telling about your services or giving information to potential customer. How do you share this clip? I say post it to YouTube.

There are two compelling reasons to go the YouTube route: cost and publicity.

Posting videos on YouTube and playing them back on your site is easy. The service has a simple-to-use service to upload your video. Once uploaded to YouTube, the movie is easily embedded in a customized player on your website.
Videos on YouTube will be stumbled upon by the general public who otherwise don’t know who you are and would not visit your site and see your video.

Of course, you can manually upload a video to your website and you can also pre-convert it into the specific file format you want (Flash movie, Windows media file, etc.). And, you can also create (or buy) a customized media player for your site. These options work fine, but they are considerably more time consuming than using the YouTube interface.

Unless you have a business need for a specific look and feel that YouTube cannot accommodate, why spend more time (and money on your web developer)?

In addition to saving money, YouTube has a social media component. YouTube asks you for keywords that describe your video. Then, when you are on the YouTube site, YouTube will suggest other videos on the same topic that you might want to view. When people look at those other clips, your video will be suggested to them as something they might want to watch. By intelligently describing your work on YouTube, you’ll get extra publicity and views for your video.

I’ve helped clients post trailers for their performances, their professional credentials, and simply examples of the fun they have in their activities. Some people have posted just the one video that they came to me with. Others have developed their own YouTube “channel”, have acquired YouTube subscribers to their movies, and regularly post video PR pieces online.

Here’s a fun public service announcement I posted on YouTube for a friend’s project a few years ago:

If Moki will share intimate details of his life on YouTube, you should feel comfortable posting your hot specials, interviews, and clips there, too.

By Ozdachs|2010-08-05T11:09:37-07:00August 5th, 2010|Marketing|0 Comments

Don’t Tell Them — Invite Them!

Does your electronic newsletter read like the bulletin board at the laundromat? Do titles and dates of events fill up the space, but a passerby would have summon the courage to make a cold call to you to get more information?

Posting event announcements with the basic “who, what, where, when, and why”– for either for-profit or not-for-profit businesses — is not enough! Customers (or “participants” or “members”) don’t automatically make the connection between a fact that something is happening and that you would like them to attend. The implied invitation to “join in” is simply not heard or seen by a lot of people.

When I grew up in Los Angeles, one incessant TV advertiser was Cal Worthington Ford. Their commercials featured a sung earworm chant, “Go see Cal! Go see Cal! Go see Cal!” The repetition might have been been tiresome to hear, but it was great marketing. Not only were you told about the week’s special deals in the commercial, there was a clear, unambiguous call to action: Go see Cal!

Your newsletters should be as clear as Cal’s advertisements. When you write about your organization’s activities, tell the reader exactly what you want them to do and how to do it. Buy, participate, donate by clicking, register, or just show up. Bring a form, fulfill a prerequisite, or be a newbie off the street. Say who’s welcome and where they should go.

When I edit my church’s weekly newsletter, I spend a fair amount of time translating laundromat bulletins into invitations to join in. Notices about classes, ceremonies, and concerts contain information about exciting happenings, but unless you’re one of the organizers or have attended similar events in the past, it’s not always obvious that visitors or new people are welcome.

“Why would we tell people about the [name the event], if we didn’t want people to show up?” I get asked. It’s a good question, but a simple statement of what you want people to reduces the emotional risk for newcomers.

You know that the artist reception is a way to get publicity for the unknown photographer exhibiting. But, I may think I need to be a critic or an established art buyer to be welcome to the gallery show.

You know that the monthly hikes around San Francisco are purely social affairs where no business is conducted. But, I may think that I have to already be a member of the sponsoring committee to be accepted on the trails.

You know that the choir is always searching for talented singers. But, I may think that I have to already know a specific repertoire before showing up for the auditions.

The solution is simple. Write your newsletters like you are talking to a friend. When you tell a friend, “I am going to see the 11 am Saturday matinee at the iMax” you add, “Would you like to come with me? I’ll pick you up at your house at 10:15.”

Add the same invitation to your newsletter.

By Ozdachs|2010-08-02T07:25:18-07:00August 2nd, 2010|Newsletters|0 Comments

Monthly Archives: August 2010

Let Me Spell it Out for You

Write Like Walt Disney

Why Should I Put My Movie On YouTube?

Don’t Tell Them — Invite Them!