Slice Words to Save Money


If you're beating around the bush, you're wasting time and possibly money. Neil Everton of Podium Media and Communications Coaching suggests we look at our writing with a critical eye and ask: "Am I prepared to pay $1 for every word I've written?"

Unproductive words and phrases abound. I've written before about wimpy phrases to avoid; here are some slightly pretentious ones to also slice out.

“Due to the fact that...”
Use “because” at the beginning, or rearrange the sentence to use it in the middle.

“For the most part...”
Eliminate this one completely without changing your meaning.

“In my opinion...”
Use “I think” or eliminate it all together. I'm already expecting your opinion if I'm reading your writing.

“On a regular basis...”
Save $3 here by using “regularly” or “always” at the end of the sentence instead.

“The first step is to...”
Chop out 4 words and simply use “first”.

Using more words doesn't mean you'll get read more - likely the opposite. Forget those 1000 word essays from high school. Writing great content is about keeping the words that do the work and eliminating the rest. How much money can you save on your next article?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Do You Know If What You're Doing Is Working?

Image
If you aren't looking at statistics at all, how do you know if your online marketing efforts are paying off? You don't need to have a complex Google Analytics set-up to keep an eye on trends. Yes, hard numbers are good to know but trends give you strategic information. Anita Kirkbride and I used a similar chart to the one above when we presented at BlogJam 2015  - back then the top line was 9,000 pageviews per month instead of 20,000. I can tell you exactly what I changed at key points (at Anita's urging) which had a direct effect on my blog readership: June 2011 - I started using social media. September 2012 - I started blogging more and sharing posts more frequently on Twitter, in particular; results were obvious by December . December 2013 - I started posting daily enewsletter tips on Twitter and LinkedIn. 2nd half of 2016 - I started posting daily newsletter tips on Google+. I've tried lots of other tactics, too - some have contributed in little ways
Keep reading »

Let's Play like Adults

Image
Yesterday I politely wrote asking to be removed from a mailing list after receiving a promotional email that was ugly, far from CASL-compliant, and for products I’m not interested in. I even included links to CASL info in an effort to help. I received this response a few moments later: “Please do the same for me.” This childish reaction came from an older man who had attended a free email marketing training I put on last spring at the request of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. He sells products to my target market. Do you think I’m ever likely to recommend him to anyone now? Email marketing isn't a game, it’s a business strategy. I firmly believe we should unsubscribe from mailings that aren't of interest to us. I read many newsletters from people who don’t read mine. It’s not a “tit for tat” thing. Email marketing costs money. Why would we want to waste our efforts sending messages to people who don’t want them ? Go ahead, unsubscribe from the things you don’t w
Keep reading »

Getting Back on Track

Image
If you're feeling - like I am - that you need to get focused for the next quarter, perhaps my list of planned activities below will be helpful. Business development: Continuing to refresh and work a business plan is a top priority, but sometimes it can get lost in the daily grind. I have several activities I'm keeping alive and making progress on by using a simple project management tool (Trello). I recommend reading The Phone Lady's post with advice about how to reach your revenue goals this year. Website refresh and audit: It's a good idea to do an audit of your website quarterly. It's even better if you pay or beg someone else to do it for you - they will see things you won't. Over the summer I've been working with Alison Knott on a brand refresh that you'll see roll out in September. A full audit will be part of that process. Masterminding: This continues to be an important road to business development and growth for me and my company.
Keep reading »

Sh*t Happens!

Image
I recently had to take a week off work unexpectedly and dash off to Ontario when my step-son went into the hospital. An hour before we hit the road, I was emailing clients and friends with promises of finishing up projects as soon as I arrived at the hotel room. Silly me! After a 20 hour road trip, all I wanted to do was get to the hospital. That remained my priority for the next 4 days and thoughts of newsletters and websites were long gone. On the day I left, my friend said all my clients would surely understand if their newsletters were late going out. After all, they have families too. There is no doubt in my mind that all of my clients would have been supportive and accepted my apologies... if that had happened. But that didn't happen. The newsletters went out. The emails got answered. New sales were made. It was an unplanned test and we passed. Yay! Last year I was smart enough to bring on a superwoman (Danielle) to work with me. Because we’ve been getting so bus
Keep reading »

Is Anyone Looking You Up?

Image
In the normal course of my day, I am constantly looking businesses up online. If I am going to talk to you, meet with you, consider buying your product or using your services, I've looked you up online. Increasingly, I am finding content that I am certain you do not want representing you. Maybe you think you do not need an online presence. Maybe you have an old website that you think is working to the extent you need it to. And maybe you are wrong. Think of all the reasons you Google a business: looking for a product or service looking for a location looking for directions or a map looking for a policy preparing for a meeting If you are using an online search to find what you are looking for, it stands to reason that others are as well. Many, many others. What do you want them to find when they look? We've said it before and it is worth repeating. Google your business at least quarterly. Set your website as your browser's default home page so you are seei
Keep reading »

What's Your Stumbling Block? Blogging Survey

Image
Ever since I wrote this article -- Where Do You Get Stuck? -- a couple of years ago, I've been on a mission to come up with solutions to content creation obstacles. coming up with ideas adapting your ideas for writing starting to write finishing writing editing and proofing finding or creating graphics keywords and publishing Aside from talking about this a lot with small business owners, I've also been circulating a survey on my social media feeds. If I know where people most often get stuck, I know where to focus my problem-solving efforts. Here are the survey results so far: survey results as of Jan-4-20 If you haven't yet responded to this survey, I'd sure appreciate it if you would -- it's only one question. You can click here to do that now. If you're suffering from any of those first three obstacles, using writing templates will help enormously. You can get a workbook here that includes 15 templates. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

It doesn't have to be About You

Image
Let’s face it: some businesses are in a better position to provide valuable information through newsletters (blogs, social media) than others. Take our own newsletter as an example. We could easily publish a newsletter about publishing newsletters. (Stay with me here.) It would have lots of tips and suggestions and advice. We could really show off our expertise and share our opinions. Now, who would that appeal to? People who are publishing their own newsletters. Perhaps even people who are publishing newsletters for others. These people aren’t our target market - not even close. Our newsletter has nothing to do with our area of specialty. But of course we have to have one. What’s an 'enewsletter boutique' without its own newsletter ? So we found something else of use to our target market:  ideas and tips for small business owners shared by other small business owners. And (big bonus here) members of our target market are the authors of our newsletter! Giving va
Keep reading »

Being Sneaky About Email

Image
When I see the words "try this" along with the words "your email subscribers" in a headline, I get a little antsy. The email I received today included "sneaky-favorite email sequences" in the body text. Here's the thing, if you're delivering value to your readers on a regular basis, you don't need to do anything sneaky. If your readership is dropping off, start delivering more value. Keep giving the thing your readers signed up for... or give even more of it. Being sneaky may result in short term gains (i.e. your stats look better for a month) but it will tarnish your reputation and long term results. Being sneaky means you've run out of value to give and you're getting desperate. You're not there yet. You only have to keep discovering the value that your readers want . Do a little research ... get inspired . Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

How Outlining Gets You Unstuck

Image
This post was written by Liam Friesen , who has recently joined Daley Progress in a part-time support role. (How lucky am I to have a journalism student helping me out?) Telling yourself that you want to start writing an article is simple. The hard part comes when you actually begin. This is an issue that plagues those who know what they want to write about but don’t quite know how to explain it . If this is a problem you run into often, try starting with an outline. From time to time, I struggle when trying to formulate an article. I find myself unable to put my ideas into words and I get stuck. However, when you create a layout or an outline for your topic, you won’t fall into a pit of wordiness and confusion. An outline can appear in any way you want , as long as you include the following: an introduction, your main body information, and a conclusion. The introduction and the conclusion are quite self-explanatory but the main body paragraphs are where most people get lost
Keep reading »

Uncommon eMail Marketing Advice

Image
When it comes to email marketing, the most important lessons aren't necessarily common sense. I've had a few a-ha moments along the way. If you are struggling to get results from your efforts, perhaps you'll find the reason and solution here. #1. While you might say you can sell to anyone, you can't create an email campaign that will appeal to everyone. Don't waste your time trying - diluted content is boring. Identify the best niche within your overall target market and create your newsletter for them. #2. Give subscribers what THEY want, not what you want to give them. Start with what would be useful or interesting for your target market , then compare that to your goals to find a sweet spot. #3. What can you give your subscribers that they can't get anywhere else?  Identify that, find a way to deliver it, and you've got it made. #4. Don't hide your unsubscribe link. You want your readers to know they can signal their lack of interes
Keep reading »