Why do you write at work? Your answer might be “I write at work because I have to use email,” or “I write at work because it’s part of my job” or something similar. But is any of that really the reason why? Nope. The real reason why you write at work is to inform, persuade or even convince someone, be that a coworker, boss, stakeholder, prospect, customer, vendor or someone else. But to do any of that, your writing first has to get read. Because you can’t inform anyone if they don’t read what you wrote, can you? And how do you get...
A huge part of the average worker’s day is spent reading and writing business emails. Yet there are many ways to reduce the time you spend in the email vortex, as you can see here and here. But here’s the deal: You’ll drastically reduce the time you spend on business emails when you make sure your emails are read and understood. …drastically reduce the time you spend on business emails when you make sure your emails are read and understood. Get Your Business Emails Read Let’s tackle the first challenge for a minute: Getting...
Almost every job involves some kind of writing. So, when everyone can write, why does it matter whether or not you write well? I’ll let Natalie Canavor, the author of several business writing books, reply to that when she says, “You are what you write these days.” Think about it: In an age when so much communication is done via written words like emails and chat messages, not during face-to-face or even phone meetings, your writing is your brand, the way you work and communicate. Your writing is your everything. But there are other...
When I was a kid, I remember my father, exasperated with traffic while we were driving somewhere, saying people who are polite in person are rude when driving because they have the anonymity of the car. Someone who would never cut in front of you in line at the bank, he argued, would cut you off in traffic without batting an eye because of this anonymity. I think about his comment when confronted with rude drivers, but also when confronted with email marketing. At times, it seems as if email marketers take the car approach, doing...
I hurt. My whole left arm aches as does my left shoulder. The back of my left hand twinges when I use it and my left pinkie tingles. Why? Because I disregarded one of the fundamental rules about working with horses: Don’t be in a hurry. And I ended up with these aches and pains but—thankfully–that was all. It could have been worse. So…what happened? My iPhone wasn’t working. I took Chase and the dogs for a ride up the logging road thinking I’d get service once away from home, but I didn’t. That’s when I knew I’d have to go...
