Does Your Writing Pass the $1-A-Word Test?


Guest post by Neil Everton, Podium Media & Communications Coaching

If you are looking for a quick and certain way of giving your words more impact, look no further than your purse or wallet.

Take a look at the last thing you wrote. It doesn't matter if it's a letter, email, report, newsletter, web content or promo script.

Look at it with a critical eye, and with this question in mind: "Am I prepared to pay $1 for every word I've written?"

Go through the script slowly. Strike out every word that isn't working hard to convey meaning.

Make sure you use the active voice. 'The man opened the door' is active. 'The door was opened by the man' is passive (and two words longer than the active version). A $2 saving in one short sentence.

Look for any of those phrases that slip into our writing unbidden. 'It's my considered opinion' is $3 more expensive than 'I think'. 'At this moment in time' is a long-winded way of saying 'Now'. Four more dollars saved.

Every word that's not working hard is getting in the way. Every word you can strip out, without compromising meaning, enhances the impact of what's left.

Neil Everton of Podium Media & Communications Coaching brings a lifetime’s international experience with some of the top news organizations in the world to his media skills workshops.

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Dilute Your Message

Image
Let’s say you own a business that sells services to the general public. And, because you are so good at what you do, you also sell different services to other businesses in your industry. This is a common scenario for successful small businesses. You want to start an enewsletter - let’s talk content . Stephanie sells financial advice. She also sells advice to other advisors about how to sell and deliver financial advice. Stephanie's approach to financial advice is unique in her industry and she is a crusader. So when it comes to Stephanie's advice, what content will appeal to both of her target markets? Be interesting or useful to both? Be of value to both? Can you write a list of potential topics? It won't be as long as you might think. The type of financial advice that appeals to you and I is not what financial advisors want. A diagram of all the possible content might look like this: If you have two distinct target markets, you need to find content that will
Keep reading »

How I Emptied My Inbox!

Image
This is what an empty inbox looks like! It's the first time I've seen mine like this in at least a couple of years, maybe longer. It looks kind of strange, doesn't it? Even a little hard to get used to. What a boost of self-gratification I got from accomplishing this (been patting myself on the back ever since). So much so that I'm now determined and motivated to keep it this way. Does this mean that I have nothing to do? That all my action items are completed? Not by a long shot - but now they're not staring me in the face all the time distracting me. My inbox will no longer be used as an ineffective to-do list. Now I realize this is a bit of psychological manipulation - it's all about my state of mind. But I've learned that my state of mind is about the most important consideration to accomplishing anything. What brought about this most awesome accomplishment? A handy little online app called Follow Up Then . It is by far the most useful ap
Keep reading »

What to Write About

Image
Your website is about what you do and your blog is about why you love what you do. I wish I could say I made that up but I read it somewhere. It has really stuck with me though. What an easy rule to follow! For newsletters and email communication, your content will depend on your strategy and goals. Choose to send either a mostly promotional email or a mostly informational email. I recommend 80% information and 20% promotion – or vice versa. Having this focus makes it clear to your subscribers what to expect. You are better to send two separate emails than to send one email that is 50/50. Each type of email has its place. I can get just as excited about a shoe sale as I do about a new idea. What do your subscribers want to read about (or look at)? That is more important than what you want to write about. (It’s also the difference between blogs and newsletters.) Content creation is one of the big challenges for my newsletter clients. I always tell them that it gets easier
Keep reading »

Count your Contacts: In or Out?

Image
I get it... this anti-spam stuff is onerous and complicated. So you might be thinking that you’ll send your current subscribers a consent request just to be safe. It can’t really hurt anything, can it? Safe, not sorry, right? This is a situation where safety has a significant price tag. Here is an example to show how your current email marketing efforts will be impacted. Let’s say you have a list of 1000 subscribers . (Keep in mind that you may already have express consent from some of them.) We’ll be generous and say you get an average open rate of 25% (industry average is 20%). That means that 250 people open your newsletter, but not always the same 250 people. Out of those 250 who open your email, how many do you think will opt-in? Statistics (and my experience) show that it will be about 30% - in this case, 75 people . With one swift move you've reduced your mailing list from 1000 to 75. Will you continue to publish a newsletter for 75 people? And what about
Keep reading »

Do You Need an Editorial Calendar?

Image
An editorial calendar makes it easy for people to work together, helping them follow a plan. What if there's only you in your business? Does it make sense to create an editorial calendar? Absolutely, but for different reasons. If your plan is in your head, writing it out will reduce stress - now you don't have to remember it. Handwriting activates the creative part of your brain and your memory . More importantly, having a plan will prep your brain to be on the lookout for appropriate content. You can use fancy spreadsheets, or find a detailed editorial calendar online. You can use coloured file cards, sheets of paper, or a whiteboard. The most important thing is that it works for y-o-u . It doesn't have to be like anyone else's editorial calendar. Of course, before you create an editorial calendar, you need to generate a bunch of content ideas . If you are like me, your content ideas may not be well organized. Creating an editorial calendar forces you t
Keep reading »

The Serial Newsletter

Image
TV folks realized a long time ago that ongoing stories keep people coming back. Everyone (my age) will remember General Hospital and the Nescafe ads . Using ongoing story telling as the basis of your newsletter can create that same thirst to know “What’s going to happen next?” This is not a strategy for the uncommitted. It requires planning and writing skill. Your continuing saga may be a real life story or it may be fictional . For either approach you’ll want to sit down and plan your storyline several issues in advance, while creating a vision of where it will go beyond that. If your story is fictional, you can make it exaggerated and funny, or serious and believable... or whatever you can dream up. Perhaps your main character will be your ideal client . Your story could be about the types of problems that you help your clients overcome. Corinne Boudreau, a lawyer, uses a continuing story in this way to illustrate her expertise. She uses realistic circumstances but without
Keep reading »

Is your Sign-up Form CASL Compliant?

Image
You already know about the identification requirements that need to be in the footer of commercial electronic messages (CEMs) to be compliant with CASL : name, mailing address, plus either phone # or email address. Do you know that this information must also be near, or "easily accessible" from, your sign-up form if you want to gain express consent? Take a moment and check your website to see if this contact information is there. Perhaps you have a contact page with this info on it, or have it in your page footer - that's good. You might also put it on your redirect page if you have one. (That's your web page where a new subscriber ends up after clicking 'sign up'.) Also note: "An individual must take action to opt-in to a stated purpose ." Is there a description of what people are signing up for? (It's also a good time to test your form by signing up to make sure it works.) While you're there looking, think about how you can mak
Keep reading »

Oh, Look! There Goes My Goal

Image
I don't need to tell you how hard it is to stay focused. And that's why it's so important to have goals that we can refer to that will keep us on track. Goals are sometimes quite removed from our daily activities. Once they're determined , a strategy is built around them. And then plans are made to execute the strategy. Next plans are broken down into action items and finally, we do or delegate specific tasks. When we're in "task mode" our goals may be completely out of mind. That's not a bad thing... as long as we're doing the things we planned to implement the strategy that will achieve our goals. Deviating from our plans is where we can get into trouble , and one way that happens is called "scope creep". That's a project management term - what is running a small business if not an ever-evolving project? Scope creep can happen accidentally but also "on purpose" and we need to be cautious of either. It's ea
Keep reading »

Perpetual One-question Survey = Evergreen Content

Image
You and I both know it can be a lot of work to keep the content machine going - blogging, email marketing, social media and more. When I find an idea I can execute in 15 minutes that will give me social media posts and blog content (plus market intelligence) for years, I'm all over that. It's easier to explain if I give you an example - here's my own one-question survey: What is your content creation stumbling block?   Why run a one-question survey? You get market intelligence which is a fancy way of saying you can find out about your target market's problems, or preferences, or habits, or whatever you want to find out. I was curious to know what it is about blogging that people struggle with the most because I want to write articles that are helpful. You get three kinds of content: Calls-to-action to get people to complete your survey - on social feeds, in your newsletter, on your blog, in your email signature, and so on. Sharing the results periodically - on social
Keep reading »