By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter I was talking to a web developer recently, and he was complaining about the dearth of original thinking reflected in content in recent times. It seems busy subject matter experts (SMEs) don’t have time to write about what they are expert in, so they’re doing what they feel is…
Writing Tips for Business Leaders from Writing Coaches
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter Photograph taken by Molly Walker, Walker Communications The five sets of tips I’m sharing with you here come from my own experience, as well as from my colleagues, fellow members of the San Francisco chapter of IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), who write, edit and / or coach…
The Power in Collaboration: 5 Things I Learned in 2 Years Coaching Others’ Writing
By Sue Stoney, the Message Crafter While I learned more than 5 things in the more-than-two years since I opened my own company, TheMessageCrafter.com, it’s these 5 that have showed me how my years in the corporate world have informed the 2 years I’ve owned my own business. What I did in my corporate role…
Words Come Loaded: Get a License to Use Them Well
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter If you’ve ever heard the words “denotation” and “connotation” before, it was probably in high school English class. So let’s review: “Denotation” is the dictionary meaning of a word. “Connotation” refers to the wide array of positive and / or negative associations a word takes on over time. It…
Avoiding Words with Rounded Corners (or how to write with a sharpened pencil)
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter Are you as tired of tired words as I am? Do you have your favorite pet peeves when it comes to the overworked entries in our lexicon? Here is my short list of “overused favorites”: Amazing Awesome Nice “Friend” or “Google” or…used as a verb “Perfect storm” or “shovel-ready”…
Writing a Book: How to Get Started (and Keep Going)
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter A little about how I came to be writing about writing a book Just so we’re clear. In all my years of providing writing, editing and writing coach services in the corporate world and now as The Message Crafter, I’ve never actually published a book with my name in…
Emails That Talk to (not down to) Your Circle of Influence
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter If you are a business owner, as I am, your email lists consist of a variety of contacts. My own lists revealed these types of email contacts: Clients (some do what I do; some don’t) Prospective clients Other business communicators (expertise similar to mine; specialty may be different) Business…
How to Write for the Bottom Line
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter If you don’t have “writer” or “editor” in your title but you have to write for business, this article has information you need to know. Whether you work for another company or for yourself, you know that business is built on a return-on-investment (ROI) model. Ask yourself these 7…
Blog Article Writing for Small Business Owners
By Sue Stoney, The Message Crafter This screen capture is of a blog article I co-wrote with a senior graphics person. Posted on my website, it illustrates what I hope to enlighten you on here. First, let’s look at some important characteristics of a good blog article: Relevant Grabs and keeps attention Gets found on…
3 Ways to Make Copy and Pictures Play Nice Together
By Sue Stoney, Writer-Editor-Writing Coach, and Dan Riccio, Senior Graphic Designer Having had a many-year professional relationship in the field of marketing, we feel we are uniquely qualified to talk about how words and pictures not only can, but should, work well together, no matter what venue you’re using them in – online or offline….