What’s happening and why is it important to me? Whether it’s a new business letter or email, a press release, or a brochure, it’s vital to explain relevant information quickly. Your time-pressured audience may not be reading your copy out of choice. They will swiftly reject anything that seems irrelevant. So begin promotional documents with […]
A to Z of Plain Text
Q – QUOTATIONS
Get someone else to do your selling for you. Quote them. “Since installing X’s sales management product, we’ve seen a significant increase in orders.” (A Customer) A third-party endorsement or reference is the best way to add credibility to promotional materials. Work hard to get a concrete statement like the one above, if you can. […]
P – PUNCTUATION
“Even when the sense is perfectly clear, a sentence may be deprived of half its force — its spirit — its point — by improper punctuation.” Edgar Allan Poe Wage war on stores which flout the conventions of punctuation, for they bombard young eyes with low standards. WH Smith, a stationer, sells childrens birthday cards, […]
O – OBJECTIVITY
“This is a unique opportunity to purchase a superb property in a sought-after location.” Any estate agent We should have sympathy with anyone (even estate agents) faced with the task of perpetually having to say the same things in different ways, or dress up dull information. After all, no-one is going to want “just another […]
N – NETIQUETTE
The early internet — Usenet newsgroups, in particular — spawned standards for polite written behaviour online. Now we all write online, using email. Not all the rules of netiquette apply to email, and some companies have standards for composing emails. But all businesses could benefit from consistent online writing. Here are some points of netiquette […]
M – MESSAGE AND MEDIUM
It takes time to understand the true potential of a new medium. At the birth of cinema, films were made by pointing a camera at a theatre stage because no-one had thought about moving the lens, or editing the movie. The earliest telephone systems were used to read books aloud to distant friends. Embryonic web […]
L – LETTERS
In the age of instantaneous, digital communications, it may seem irrelevant to talk about the art of letter-writing. However, letters remain important. They are the only acceptable accompaniment to an enclosure such as a brochure. And they are the most civilised way of introducing yourself, your company or your products when you want to win […]
K – KNOCKING COPY
A contentious area of business writing, knocking copy is defined as ‘advertising copy that attacks a rival’s product’. Some advertisers suggest that knocking copy is a necessary way of getting a forceful point into potential customer’s minds: ‘JunkAir is cheaper than TrashFlights’, for example. And it’s fair to say that knocking copy can be used […]