123 Junk Blog – 123 Junk was started by a college graduate who is noted by the Washington Business Journal as turning “junk heaps into gold mines.” Their blog is very business-centric and has some great posts that focus on building the customer-business relationship.
What is it You’re Truly Selling?
I was listening to a TED Talk today that offered to teach people how to find their true calling in just five minutes. In it, the speaker, Adam Leipzig, asked the audience five questions:
- What is your name?
- What do you do?
- Who do you do it for?
- What do those people want and need?
- How do they change as a result?
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For Better Writing, Get Rid of “That”
One of the easiest ways to tell if you are working with a beginner-level copywriter is to count how many times they use the word “that.”
Many years ago, when I was cutting my teeth as a business writer, I made the same mistake. Then my editor told me to go back over my copy and edit out every time I used the word “that.” He said it would make my copy stronger, and you know, he was right. Although the use of “that” might be grammatically correct, it is unnecessary and overused. Continue reading →
Want More Sales? Writing in Active Voice Gets Others Excited
Even as a professional writer, I have to review everything I write to make sure I am writing in “active voice.” I review for it in my professional writing as well as my everyday correspondences via email or letters, and believe it or not, I usually find at least one place where I can make my writing stronger.
What is Active Voice?
When using active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb: The girl brushed the dog. An example of this same sentence in passive voice would be: The dog was brushed by the girl. One tip for identifying a passive sentence is to look for the word “by.”
Why is Active Voice Important?
Active voice sentences are preferable in writing because Continue reading →
We Made a “Top 10” List!
One of the companies for which All the Buzz writes blog posts is listed as one of the “Top 10” blogs in their industry. We’re excited by the listing and the client is thrilled. Not only does their listing (holding its own against the big national companies) give credibility to their company, it elevates them in both online searches and credibility in the eyes of their customers. In addition, the client, 123JUNK, has seen a significant rise in their web traffic with regular blog posting.
The industry itself isn’t glamorous, it’s junk removal. But is an essential service that everyone needs. Here is how the listing is noted:
Top 10 Junk Removal Blogs On The Web Today
Not bad for a regional company that just opened their second location!
If you’d like to see your online traffic increase, Continue reading →
Everyone Can Write. Why Should I Hire You to Do It?
I was at a business networking meeting today where the topic of discussion was: “What are the misperceptions about your business?”
As a writer, the most common one I hear us: “Everyone can write. Why should I hire you to do it?”
Yes, everyone CAN write. But my question back is: “Can they write well?” When you are a business owner the words you use to create your brand and attract customers can make or break you.
You have only seconds to capture someone’s attention, Continue reading →
Improve Your English: Comprise vs. Compose
Over and over again you hear people mixing up the two words Comprise and Compose. They may sound similar, but have entirely different meanings, and are commonly confused for each other, most often with the word comprised being used where the word composed is correct.
Let’s start with the meaning of each word:
- Comprise: Consist of
- Compose: To make up or form by combining things, parts or elements
To do a quick check as to which word would be appropriate in your sentence, Continue reading →
Miss-Fortune for This Restaurant
Sometimes even the smallest amount of writing can have a big impact on your business. Take this fortune for example. I brought home several fortune cookies from a restaurant not too long ago, and just recently opened the cookie to enjoy it. Inside I found this fortune that’s shown in the picture.
At first, I thought “Wow! A free dessert!” Didn’t you? Then I realized what a big mistake this restaurant made. Do you see it? Continue reading →
Does Your Marketing Copy Tell Your Story?
Are you using plain, nondescriptive words on your website and marketing materials? Words that everyone else is using? If so, you might be falling into the copy dead zone.
I learned a technique as a magazine writer. As an exercise, we wrote a sentence or paragraph using ordinary words, as in this example:
- John went to the store to buy bananas.
Is TV Teaching Us Bad Grammar?
As a professional writer, I’m being driven nuts by the poor grammar used in the commercials I’m forced to see throughout the day. I also cringe at the lack of knowledge of the English language used by some of the major network broadcasters. I just want to write to them and say “No!”
Here are a couple of infractions I’ve noticed lately:
Farther vs. Further
The common rule, according to Dictionary.com, is that farther is used when discussing distances, while further is used for a figurative Continue reading →
Should You Write in Full Sentences or Fragments?
Do you get this “fragment” prompt?
When I run my work through Spell Check, I’m often stopped by the phrase “Fragment (consider revising.)” Does this happen to you?
While Spell Check helps me find spelling and spacing errors, it doesn’t really know about conversational writing style. Writing for blogs, the web, or social media is different than writing novels or papers. You MUST use sentence fragments.
Yes, use fragments
People don’t speak in full, formal sentences. They speak in fragments. And the point of engaging an audience is to stimulate a “conversation.” I’m sure you’ve heard people say, Continue reading →
