Most people use three different sentence formats when they write. With only these three variations your writing can get monotonous. If you expand your repertoire to include six additional sentence formats your writing will automatically seem more sophisticated and be more appealing to the reader. Don’t let the “grammar” scare you, once you read the examples it all starts to make sense. Here are the different formats that can transform your writing and they’re very simple to master if you use these guidelines:
Main clause: subject + verb + completers

Jeremiah walked home. Read More

Typical weekend errands. On my list was toothpaste. Simple right? Not so much! Usually I just grab my preferred brand and off I go. Paying little attention to the entire shelf. But on Saturday, it so happened that the toothpaste aisle in this particular store was very wide and as I turned the corner, I had a visual perspective that caused me to stop dead in my tracks. The number of choices, even among the same brand (Crest for example), Read More

Calvin Klein has a reputation of pushing it in their advertising and so I’m always curious to follow them to see what they are up to. A couple weeks ago Calvin Klein replaced some of its billboards (in NY and LA), not with controversial or racy imagery, but with a giant QR code with the tease to “Get it Uncensored”.

Although widely used in Europe and Japan, QR codes are still somewhat of a novelty here in the US. Read More

Or you end up being nothing to no one. Read More

A cautionary tale.
It was a warm Saturday evening and I had to attend the wedding of a young employee from my company. I dressed in my best black cocktail dress and heels and was feeling fairly pleased with myself when Joe, my husband, and I headed over to the festivities.
The reception provided a good chance to “catch up” with some of our staffers. As it began to wind down one of my direct reports – a young guy – took it upon himself to patiently usher me out of the reception hall and out to my car with comments like “well, Read More

We’re in a creative business so emotions can sometimes run high. On occasion we’re subjected to an angry outburst which is generally counterproductive to any project it impacts. Read More

Don’t get so close to the avoidance product or service you’re marketing that you forget it’s not a subject welcomed with open arms. You may come up with a “kick ass” new promotion for adult diapers, but if you wave it openly in the face of your target audience – especially if it’s open enough to be observed by others close to them – you might find yourself permanently banned from their considered set. No one wants to come home to a flyer waving from their doorknob suggesting that their almost certain incontinence can be solved at a discount! Read More

I really don’t have anything against you folks at AARP, but come on…do you really think that mailing me an AARP membership card and solicitation BEFORE my 50th birthday is a good marketing move?  If so, you should fire the person or company that gave you that advice.

It’ s not like that 21st birthday that you look forward to with great anticipation. Turning 50 isn’t something I stress over (the alternative is worse) instead it’s a birthday I look at with little interest. Read More

There’s an amazing amount of communication going on these days. We can call from anywhere using our mobile phones, get and send emails from those phones, text people, IM people, post to Twitter and Facebook, and blog from anywhere and everywhere we are at. There are also a tremendous number of tools out there that help us to manage, review, schedule and automate these communications. What’s important to remember is that while these tools are great for helping you manage your inputs and outputs, there’s still no substitute for true, authentic communication.

Just one year ago, June 1, 2009, Microsoft changed the name of its also-ran search engine from Live to Bing. On Friday June 6, 2010, I, like many others, received an email notice announcing that Microsoft has canceled Bing’s “Cashback” promotion effective July 30. Read More