Gerry McGovern provides this week’s guest article. You build a brand on the Web one click at a time. You destroy your brand by wasting your customers’ time. I am a customer of a number of banks. I judge these banks, at least partly, by the experience I have with them online. I used to [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Communications'
How To Build & Destroy Your Brand On The Web
February 26th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Communications, Social Media, Tips, strategy
Tags: Advertising·Bank of Ireland·brand·Business·Chris Brogan·Consultant·Harvard Business Review·Marketing·Richard Branson·strategy·Tom Peters·User interface design
12 Steps To Getting Started as a Consultant
February 24th, 2010 · View Comments · Books I Like, Career, Communications, How To, Linkedin
Most people think it’s difficult start a career as a business consultant. I used to think the same in my early 20s when I started in IT. In retrospect, I should have made more efforts to establish myself as a consultant earlier; the benefits certainly outweigh the downsides. As luck would have it, I was [...]
Tags: Chris Brogan·Consultant·Harvard Business Review·Linkedin·management·Management consulting·Richard Branson·strategy·Tips·Tom Peters
Using Google’s Wonder Wheel for Mind Mapping & Generating New Ideas
February 15th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Business Process, Communications, Google, Tools, strategy
Google’s Wonder Wheel is Search and Mind Mapping combined together. The Wonder Wheel was introduced in May 2009 and is one of Google’s best kept secrets. This search/mindmapper tool shows search results in a Wheel with different Spokes for each associated search result. Fantastic tool for brainstorming, studying trends, and idea generation.
Tags: Add new tag·Google·Innovation·Mind Mapping·Problogger·Research·strategy·Wonder Wheel·Writer’s Block
Don’t Feed The Trolls!
February 10th, 2010 · View Comments · Communications, Facebook, Google, How To, Linkedin
I have a troll. Do you? Trolls slither over the internet. They start as lurkers, then get brave, creep out and spit things at you. 10 out of 10 trolls feed on attention. Negative or positive – they don’t care. Attention is the oxygen that keeps them going. Here’s the story of how I found my troll and what we may do next?
What’s the Best Font for Web Writing?
January 29th, 2010 · View Comments · Communications, How To, Style Guide, Tips, Tools
When I started in tech docs, Times New Roman was THE font for printed manuals. There was no ifs, buts, or maybes about this. Times New Roman. Size 11. Since then other more trendy fonts have come onto the market. Trends in font styles come and go. While fonts in printed publications are one thing, [...]
What Andrew Chen Can Teach You About Writing Killer Headlines
January 26th, 2010 · Comments Off · Business Process, Communications, How To, Leadership, Productivity, Social Media, Technical Writing
If you want to see great web copy, read Andrew Chen. I’m going to show you his top 15 posts from last year. What do you see? The headlines are very compelling; smart little nuggets that draw you in. The secret is how he combines several copywriting techniques so well. It looks seamless. And that’s [...]
Tags: Business Models·business writing·Copywriting·fremium·Headings·web 2.0·writing
Al Gore’s Gentle Guide to Killer Presentations
January 25th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Communications, How To
Speaking in public is the last thing most of us want do. So I was surprised to read how AL Gore, an experienced speaker, reached out to Nancy Duarte to improve his public-speaking skills. The next time you have to give a presentation, remember the following.
Tags: Add new tag·Al Gore·Guy Kawasaki·Leadership·PowerPoint·Presentations·Public-speaking·strategy
Using Google Wave to Write Technical Documents
January 22nd, 2010 · View Comments · Communications, How To, Productivity, Reviews, Tools
Maeve asks on LinkedIn how we can use Google Wave to write technical documents. Well, the first consideration is that Google Wave is not designed as a tech authoring tool but for collaboration and ‘almost’ real-time information exchange. Saying that, it does offer many benefits if you need to plan/coordinate/review documents in a networked environment. Here are some ideas.
Tags: Business case·Documentation Plan·Google Wave·Producitivty·Project Plan·Release Notes·Schedules·Wave
7 Ideas to Inspire Your Business & Laser Focus Your Blog
January 21st, 2010 · Comments Off · Career, Communications, How To, Productivity
Denise Wakeman asks, “How am I going to come up with fresh content for my blog three times a week?” She lists some excellent ideas designed to help save you time and stimulate some new ideas. Here are some others you might want to consider.
Tags: blog·Business·Chris Brogan·Google Alert·HootSuite·Ideas
How Advertising in User Guides Could Work
January 10th, 2010 · View Comments · Communications, How To, strategy, user guides
Putting advertising in user guides may seem rather flaky at first, but it could work. Here’s why. Life is full of taboos. Things you should and shouldn’t do. One of my ‘pet projects’ is to connect the lines between Sales and Technical Documentation. To me, they both serve the same purpose. Serve the customer. While they both start at different points, the end goal is the same. Unfortunately, these two departments rarely work together. Let’s take a look at how we can fix this.
Do Business Leaders Need to Write Well to Succeed?
November 23rd, 2009 · Comments Off · Business Process, Communications, Technical Writing
Thom Haller asks on TCW if ‘to be an effective leader, you need to learn how to write well’.
Tags: Adobe Framemaker·Business·Career·communication·contract·Fortune 500·Leadership·MadCap Flare·management·Online Help·Robohelp·Single Sourcing·STC·Structured Authoring·Technical Communications·Technical documentation·Technical Writing·Warren Buffett
How to Add your site to Bing's Directory Listing
June 7th, 2009 · Comments Off · Communications, Social Media, Technical Writing
To add your site to Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine:
Tags: Bing·guidelines·seo·social media·Tips·Yahoo
Dow Jones Writers Get Conduct Rules for Social Media
June 7th, 2009 · Comments Off · Communications, Social Media, Technical Writing
The Wall Street Journal writers were given a newly compiled list of rules for “professional conduct,” which included a guide for use of online outlets, noting cautions for activities on social networking sites. The memo says that staffers should consult their editor before “connecting” to or “friending” any reporting contacts who may need to be treated as confidential sources, and business and pleasure should not be mixed on services like Twitter. The revised code of conduct also includes details about offline friendships, freelance work and public speaking.
Tags: Bing·Dow Jones·guidelines·Rules·social media·Tips·Twitter·Writers
