The Value Of Using Powerful Words

There is a great post on the Write Powerful Resumes blog about using powerful words  to bring your resume to life.

The example given is excellent:

“There is nothing worse than saying:

- Achieved strong results due to strong ability to assess situations and utilise strong relationship skills.

Even though only two words have been changed, look at how much more powerful and interesting this next sentence is.

- Achieved outstanding results due to innate ability to assess situations and utilise strong relationship skills.”

These tips are not only useful when writing resumes but are also valuable across all types of writing. Within my business I use my thesaurus often. I also have a ’swipe file’ of suggestions for alternate words and phrases.

It’s amazing how simply changing a few words here and there can make such a huge improvement to the quality of the text.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

Do You Have Tips to Share for Successful Live TV Interviews?

I received a wonderful phone call from one of my clients yesterday. I recently wrote a media release for her and she was ringing to tell me that shortly after sending it out, she received a phone call from one of the major, prime-time TV shows to say that they would like to interview her live next Tuesday.

How exciting for her!

I quickly sent her a few tips to help her prepare but I would love to hear more. I know there are a lot of experienced business people who read this blog… have you ever been interviewed live on prime-time TV? Can you offer any real life tips and suggestions, particularly ways to appear confident - including how to remember your name and what your business does - when you have 1,000,001 butterflies doing a jig in your stomach?

I’d love to hear your ideas.

Here’s to your success in business…

Truth of Fiction?

Almost every day I receive some sort of email from a well-meaning relative, friend or colleague, warning me about the latest ’shocking danger’. These warnings range from health issues, scams, computer viruses, safety issues… I’m sure you know the ones I am referring to. What’s more, these emails almost always ask you to forward the warning to everyone in your address book to make sure they’re aware of the potential dangers too.

Do you automatically forward on these warnings?

I don’t.

I go to a fantastic website - Truth or Fiction. You can look up the general topic of the warning email you’ve been sent and nine times out of ten, it will have the exact email in its files. It will tell you a little bit about the email and whether it’s true, fiction or a combination.

Before you automatically forward those ‘urgent warnings’, have a quick look on Truth or Fiction.

Here’s to your business success…

5 Tips for Online Article Submission

This post on Melissa Khalinsky’s blog has some useful tips about online article submission.

If you submit articles online, this is definitely worth reading as Melissa knows what she’s talking about - she manages The RepOZitory - an Australian article submission website. I believe these tips are based on the most common mistakes she sees in articles that are submitted to them.

Here’s to your business success…

Who Owns the E-Mails?

Have you ever wondered who owns e-mails that are sent to employees while they are at work?

Ingrid’s Heart Harmony blog has a great post that’s worth reading - Legal Technology: Who Wins the Fight Over E-Mail Ownership?

This post refers to recent US case laws regarding the use of private e-mails in a business setting.  Ingrid goes on to outline some good, basic policies that make a firm foundation for company email policies.

If you employ staff or are considering employing staff in the future, this is definitely worth the read.

Here’s to your business success…

How do you find Australian Business News?

Here’s a great site that’s worth visiting - and subscribing too… Plugger - for Australian Business News.

Plugger is an Australian business news website aggregating news and providing a news search engine. You can search for news on your business or industry, and if you register, you can also receive one daily email of news up-dates about your customers, competitors and other related issues from a wide variety of sources.

Plus, you can publish your own news and media releases simply by emailing Plugger (your news must be within the body of the email or a page on a website, not an attachment) or you can log-in and  post your news. Logging-in lets you track the popularity of your post.

Best of all, it’s free to join Plugger. It’s a great way to post and track your news or to monitor customers and industries.

Here’s to your business success…

Do you compare?

Jacqui at Rainbow Designs has a wonderful post on comparing that I urge you to read. What she writes is so true - how often do we compare ourselves with others? Our blogs, our businesses, our homes, our… everything!

Comparing can sometimes be beneficial but generally, I find it’s much better to focus on being the best, unique you that you can be. It’s all about finding your own personal style and putting that into everything you do.

A few years ago I was part of a team who presented a publishing forum. The speaker before me was so ‘out there’ and everybody loved him. He was really over the top and the audience was so hyped and motivated after hearing him. Thankfully we had a tea break between his presentation and mine.

I was really concerned that I wouldn’t be able to live up to his style and was rethinking my delivery - how could I present more like him? And to make it more difficult, I was presenting on the legal and technical issues! How could I make that more exciting?

Well, I decided it was too late to make changes and I just got up and presented in my usual style. Surprisingly, everyone was glued to my every word, taking lots of notes. Some of the feedback we received later - and some at my prodding - was that the audience didn’t want more than one energetic section. They liked my presentation and found it just as useful as the other speaker before me.

So there was no need for me to worry and compare. Yes, it’s good to see what others are doing, to learn from them and improve. However sometimes two people - or two blogs, two presentations, two businesses - can be totally different and neither one is better than the other. They’re just… different.

Embrace your uniqueness!

Here’s to your business success…

The secret to getting the media to come running to you

How many times have you heard people comment on how difficult it is to get a press release read by the right media representatives, or how hard it is to get good editorial and TV coverage? I don’t know about you, but I hear it all the time.

It’s true… media outlets receive so many press releases each day that many go unread. Many more don’t even make it past the headline. Would you like to know how to get your press release read or better still, how to get the media to come to you, wanting to give you coverage and promotion?

I’ll let you in on the secret…

Simply give the media what they want.

“Yeah, simple,” I hear you say. “How do I know what they want?”

In all honesty, most areas of the media – print, radio, television, Internet – are always looking for good content to give their readers, viewers and listeners. Start by listing your target market and what publications they read; what shows they watch; what radio stations they listen to.

Next, read those publications, watch those shows and listen to those stations. Get a clear idea of what their style is and what they might be looking for. Now, how can you provide what they are looking for?

Most publications aren’t really interested in a new business because there are new businesses every day. But if you can show them HOW your business can BENEFIT their readers/listeners/viewers, you’re in with a chance. You need to find a unique story angle. What problems might their readers/listeners/viewers have that your product or service can solve? For example, there has a lot of talk around here recently about how easy it is for children to go missing. Let’s say you specialize in a product that can reduce the incidence of a child going missing, or that can help track them quickly. Write a press release that highlights the issues surrounding missing children, focusing on the emotions involved, rather than adjectives about how fabulous your product is. Then go on to state that there is a product available that can help minimize these incidents and give information about your product and its benefits.

Do not use your press release as a chance to advertise your product. That simply won’t work. You need to demonstrate a solution to a problem.

Next, make the journalist’s job as easy as possible. Journalists are very busy people. The easier you can make their job, the more inclined they are to cover your story. Give them good quality information; include a quote or two (journalists LOVE quotes); make sure you provide clear contact information for yourself, or whoever they should contact for further information; let them know that you’re available for an interview.

Once your story has been published or aired, send a brief note or email to the journalist involved to thank them, and let them know that you’re happy to help them next time they need information regarding your area of expertise. Once the journalist knows of your expertise and experiences how easy it is for them to work with you, they’ll come looking for you.

This is just the tip of the iceberg but I hope it helps you. Good luck – please send me the details of all the media coverage you get!

Here’s to your business success…

The value of giving clear instructions

I recently outsourced a particular business task and when the work was returned to me - and perfectly done, I might add - the contractor commented on how easy the job was given the clear, detailed instructions I provided her with.

Personally, I know how much easier it is for me to do a client’s work well when they have given me clear outlines of what they are looking for. In the example of writing an article for someone, it’s much easier to do when they outline the length of the article, the specific target market (i.e. who they want to read the article), the style, keywords, spelling (e.g. Australian, US or UK), article’s purpose, their image… the list goes on). It makes it so much easier to write - and write well - than when someone doesn’t have a clear picture of what they’re after.

So whenever you outsource or sub-contract work, aim to provide a clear, detailed brief. In most cases, a good service provider will ask you appropriate questions to gather this information but if they don’t, make sure you provide the details and ask them if there’s anything else they need to know to make their job easier.

You’d be surprised at the difference it can make to the quality of the work that is done for you.

Here’s to your business success…

How do you send large files over the Internet?

I am often asked how to send large files over the Internet as quite often there is a size limit or timeout limit on general email accounts, particularly if you are using a standard home-usage account.

I love two companies - Send This File and You Send It for this type of thing. Please note: I don’t get any commission for recommending these companies, I just do so because I love the service they provide.

They work much the same way. Basically, you select the file you want to send, click a couple of buttons, then your file is uploaded to a private area on their site and they will email a message with a download link to your selected recipient/s. The recipient of the file will receive this email saying that their file is ready for download; they click on the link and download the file. Easy!

This is fantastic when you have a file containing lots of high quality graphics, audios or videos.

You can sign up for a free account to trial both these companies and for many, the free account is all you’ll need. However if you find yourself wanting to use the service more and more, there are various upgrades that may be more suitable.

Check them out now… once you’ve tried them, you’ll use them wherever possible!

Cross Gender Communication

I’m all for equality between the genders but at the same time, generally speaking, there are some clear differences in the way males and females think and act.

When I came across this clip on You Tube I just had to share it with you. Juliet Funt is giving some tips on cross gender communication. As funny as it is when she says it, she actually makes a lot of sense. I hope you enjoy it.