How Effective Business Writing Skills Protect Your Reputation and Credibility

How Effective Business Writing Skills Protect Your Reputation and Credibility

Originally published November 2017, Updated January 2024 When I tell people I’ve started BetterFasterWriter.com, they all nod knowingly, because they either work with poor writers or they sense their own writing could use improvement. How about you? Are you nodding along, knowing that poor writing is pandemic in today’s business world? Do you see the same lack of effective business writing skills that I see? Putting up with poor writing is annoying, but there’s a longer term negative impact that results: loss of credibility, for the...
Email Marketing? Be on Your Best Behavior in Every Inbox

Email Marketing? Be on Your Best Behavior in Every Inbox

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...
9 Ways to Improve Any Drip Email Campaign

9 Ways to Improve Any Drip Email Campaign

Is your business using automated or drip email marketing? If not, why not? You should be, as this ebook explains. And if you are, kudos to you! Now let’s make sure you’re making the most of your drip campaigns with nine tips to improve. How to approach your automated email marketing A drip campaign is a series of emails that are triggered by an event, but they aren’t standalone emails. Instead they are a series of emails meant to work together. These might be emails you’d use for a lead nurturing campaign, for example....
Monday’s Mistake for March 1, 2021: The Dangers of Automated Email!

Monday’s Mistake for March 1, 2021: The Dangers of Automated Email!

Sadly, this is the first paragraph in an automated email I get once a week now that we have a registered puppy. I count three blatant mistakes plus several places where writing could be improved. What do you see? To be honest, it’s not the mistakes or poor writing that bug me about this. What bugs me is this is yet another example of the dangers of the set-it-and-forget-it mentality many marketers have with automated email. These emails are being sent out when triggered by an event, in this case, our puppy turning 16 weeks old...
How to Wreck Your Email Copywriting and Turn People Off…Starring Our New Puppy

How to Wreck Your Email Copywriting and Turn People Off…Starring Our New Puppy

A rug, a puppy, and a lesson in email copywriting… You might wonder why this post on email copywriting includes a picture of an adorable puppy. Well, here’s why: A few months ago, I bought a rug from Ruggable for our kitchen. Last week we brought home a puppy. Still confused? Hang on… If you’re not familiar with Ruggable, it’s a washable rug. And if you’re not familiar with puppies, let me tell you that house training a puppy means you need a washable rug! This kitchen rug has worked out better than I had hoped. It’s lovely to look...