Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 7:00AM 
Should you ever break the rules of grammar?
Professional writers know that there are some rules to break (but only intentionally) and others that should never be broken. Misusing words is a common mistake of the neophyte, and rather than serving a linguistic purpose, simply hurts one’s credibility.
Image Source: BlueGlass.com
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 7:00AM 
This time we’ll continue with our list of some of the items you might want to include in your social media policy.
11. Support claims with data, when possible.
12. Stay within the law on copyright, trademark or other legal
matters.
13. Use impeccable grammar, a polite tone and accurate facts.
14. Don’t take a public position on things that aren’t approved
by your management.
15. Don’t engage in controversial conversations.
16. Don’t use the company brand to endorse a personal opinion
or cause.
17. Remember that once something is posted it is public, so
think carefully before posting anything.
18. Don’t participate in personal social media interactions
during work time.
19. Don’t post work that is a product of your company and
display it as your own work.
20. Don’t develop your own blog or Web site that promotes
work similar to what your employer pays you for.
As you develop guidelines for your official social media commentators, remember to clearly identify who can post comments and to outline how negative and anonymous posts should be handled.
What would you add to this list?
Image Source: www.web-savvy-marketing.com
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 7:00AM 
Social media is about meaningful conversations—and employees can play a vital part in this. It’s easy to fear allowing employees to be involved in social media, yet if we trust our employees to have interactions with our clients in person, shouldn’t we trust them to be a vital part of our online communication?
Expanding the role of communication to employees can be a good business strategy, but they must be trained and given access. Begin by creating a policy for social media that leads your organization in a direction of relevant conversations. To get you started, we’ll suggest some ideas you might consider including in your social media policy:
In our next blog entry, we'll offer 10 more tips.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 7:00AM 
Perhaps we should thank Martha Stewart for the renewed interest in letterpress printing, since she's been advocating use of this beautiful reproduction technique for wedding invitations for some time.
It's easy to see why people are attracted to this style of printing: the tactile experience exudes quality.
However, before deciding to use letterpress for your next project, spend a few minutes to consider if it's right for you. Because colors are applied one at time, letterpress printing is best for one- or two-color designs. Using three or more colors significantly increases the cost. Remember too that photographs are impossible to reproduce with this style of printing.
We couldn't resist using this technique for our new business cards—and love the results!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7:00AM 
How do CEO’s you’ve worked with look in comparison to this data?
While many still fear the lack of control that social media has introduced onto the corporate messaging stage, executives are using social media in a variety of ways—as this chart from penn-olson.com shows.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 7:00AM ;)
One of the biggest challenges of any communicator is getting the attention of their target audience.
As businesses, our messages arrive at the consumer’s eyes and ears but are allowed in only with their permission. Very often, they’re not seeking what we have to say.
The entertain-engage method of communication is one way to break through the sea of communications. Give your target audience something they’re hungry for—whether it’s entertainment, inspiration or a mental break—before you give them the message you want them to absorb.
We recommended this method for a university’s recruiting piece we helped develop targeting high school sophomores. We know that messages that carry entertainment value are more likely to be allowed in, and chose to pay an irreverent visit to age-old clichés that parents use to get the readers’ attention and build a platform for a deeper message.
Besides increasing the chance for engagement with this audience, its unexpected approach provides a fresh take on college recruiting material—much of which looks very similar.
Are there opportunities for you to tell your brand’s story using this method?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 7:00AM
Why do some companies outperform others? Why do some people achieve things others do not? Why do some leaders inspire, while others don’t?
In this Ted Talk, Simon Sinek asserts that all great leaders think, act and communicate differently than others. They stay focused on the question of “Why?”—which engages humans at a deeper level than facts alone.
Sinek says that people will buy what you sell if they believe what you believe. As he said, Martin Luther King gave a “I have a dream” speech, rather than “I have a plan” speech. In marketing, this means talking more about why we do what we do than about what we do.
What’s the why behind your business? And how might that inspire others to buy what you have to sell?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 7:00AM 
Sometimes the best ideas don’t come from within one’s own industry, but from outside of it. Some of the grandest human ideas have been expressed in art, architecture and music—and these still serve as sources of inspiration for us even centuries after their creation.
Giving oneself the time to take in life outside of our limited vantage point may lead us down more creative paths. Steve Jobs knew this, and summed it up well:
"Ultimately creativity comes down to … trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then trying to bring those things in to what you're doing.... I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.”
Why not take a moment today to expose yourself to ideas outside of your industry, and see what happens?
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 7:01AM 
If you’re trying to increase the ranking for news releases you’re posting on line, consider these simple tips offered by Adam Sherk with Ragan.com:
Want more details? Read his full article.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:00AM 
Need a way to deliver difficult messages quickly and easily? Consider infographics. Whether it's static or animated, this increasingly popular communication tool allows the reader to digest key points—even difficult and complicated points—at a glance. By using visuals, it accelerates the time the brain takes to translate words into images in the brain—and also makes it easier to remember.
Here's an infographic from BlueGlass that unpacks some health myths in a way that draws the reader in. It drew 800,000 visitors over five months.
Have you ever used an infographic? Did you find it successful?
