by Katie Mead

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter 

These days, regardless of your business or industry, chances are your most effective communication tool is your website.  Conversely, a poorly written, poorly designed or out of date site can be a great liability.  Assuming you know what you want to say, using your site as an effective vehicle for communication often comes down to two things: content and formatting.  Both are essential, so here are some tips to maximize your efforts:

Content
1. Stick to the point
Who are you and what do you do?  Hitting these points may sound obvious, but are often overlooked.  Attention spans are short – a new visitor to your site is only willing to spend about 30 seconds exploring – it’s essential that you make a powerful impression.  Don’t make them search for information about you or your services, and keep the information useful – to them, not you.

2. A call to action
General overviews are a nice way to start, but keep them short.  People need to know what you want them to do, and how to do it.  Leave no room for interpretation or even subtlety – don’t hint!  Be direct and you’ll get your point across.

3. The personal touch
There’s something intimate about reading text on the web: while remaining informative, keep  your writing personal and conversational.  Attention to tone will help get your point across without seeming aggressive.  Writing naturally will enhance personal buy-in and engage your audience – it’ll also make your text easier to read.

Formatting
1. Head it up
It can be hard to read text online.  Help your readers by using lots of subheadings.  Start at the top with a catchy headline and provide links to the subheads.  Break up the text by formatting the subheads so that they stand out from the surrounding text.  Know that your readers are going to scan your article – make sure the subheads easily tell the bare bones of your message and you’ll draw them in. 

2. Faster than a speeding bullet
Bullet points jump out and will draw your readers’ attention.  Use text sparingly, but bullets liberally.  Wherever possible, condense ideas to lists of easily-read bullet points.

3. Emphasis
Used sparingly, italics can be a powerful tool.  People imagine they can hear the tone of your words; know how italics can impact the way your message comes across and use them appropriately. For example:
Our writing has impact. 
Our writing has impact.
Our writing has impact.
All slightly different, conveying a slightly different message – help your readers hear what you want to say.

4. To be so bold
Don’t overdo it, but used occasionally, bold text stands out.  Write your headings in bold text and you’ll get your point across.

So while writing for the web requires some different skills than writing print copy, some of the basic tenets remain the same:
• Write well: pay attention to correct grammar and spelling,
• Write with purpose: have something of value to say and say it well, and
• Write for your audience: always remember who you’re writing for and why they should be interested.

Keeping all this in mind can be quite a juggling act but a well-written site that broadcasts your message is definitely worth the effort.

Katie Mead is the co-founder of Springboard Consulting, Katie is a passionate about good communication.  From a diverse background in the fine arts, she has developed a proven track record of success working in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Her particular areas of expertise include marketing, grant writing, non-profit resource building and management, fundraising, and the design and launch of various keynote projects and events.  Katie can be reached at:  katie@springboardconsulting.ca

by Gay Walley

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

I am amazed at how much raw talent there is out there and struck by the diversity and number of people who take up writing books.

Maybe it’s because of the hundreds of thousands of blogs or maybe, it’s the reason for all the blogs.  I don’t really know.  What is apparent is the number of people who want to write.

One such person, a Wall Street risk manager who has never written before creates a Lehman Brothers-type melt down and draws incredible characters who manage and ruin his fictional bank. He knew he wanted to write, but wasn’t sure how to begin. Less than six months later, he has completed a first draft of a driving yarn, full of regulators, hedge fund managers and bank personnel who stay with you and keep you at the edge of your seat. Such latent creativity that somehow he knew was inside him, waiting to come out.

Another amazing new writer is a school principal who always had a ken for short stories. She only can devote weekends but her stories grow more and more fluid and she writes of every day people and their quiet challenges. A record company executive wants to write stories about the music business and the constant creativity she sees about her. An out of work computer programmer writes a hair-raising long novel about the mafia and father-son relationships. He struggles with how to write women, but his mafia scenes are so well drawn that it makes you wonder (a little) about his background.  

Creativity is in all of us, all you have to be is willing to go through the struggle of learning and failing, and then the surprise of achieving and succeeding.

Maybe this is an unexpected – but exhilarating – part of technology and social media; the desire by so many people to communicate through writing.  Most social scientists have declared that man is a social animal and that perhaps the technology has helped stimulate this innate desire.  What is certain, however, beyond all contentions is the enormous and rapidly increasing volume of writing – in all forms - that is now being created by an ever- widening population.

I don’t know if any of these people will get book contracts – or even if that is their intent. But what I do know is that these people love creating their books, as others love the challenge and excitement of learning a new language, or learning how to play an instrument and that within each of us resides endless stories and delight in the telling of them – if we permit it.

Gay Walley is a marketing writer, novel writer and writing coach living in New York City. She helps her students live their dream of memoirs and novels. You can find her on www.gaywalley.com and www.nycwritingcoach.com .