Noun string are, as you might suppose, a series of nouns. Here’s one:

competitive price options

That’s easy to understand. The nouns competitive and price serve as adjectives to modify options.

Deciphering noun strings gets tougher with each noun you toss into the string.

Alternative regulated competitive price options

Postoperative recuperation program procedure indicator sheet

In a noun string, the writer uses a series of nouns as adjectives to modify the final noun. That’s what makes a noun string tough to read: At each noun the reader hesitates, wondering if he should understand this as a noun or as a …

When I begin editing a client’s draft, I invariably find these two duos of confusion:

Since used to mean because

Like used to mean such as

Let’s look at each of these pairs of confusion.
Since or Because?

• Since refers to time:

It’s been years since I’ve eaten s’mores!

• Because refers to consequence:

I avoid s’mores because of my marshmallow allergy.

Oh, yes, it does make a difference.

Look at these two nearly-identical sentences about Rafe’s love life. Changing just one word changes the sentence’s meaning.

Since he broke up with flaxen-haired Dominique, Rafe’s dated brunettes.

…

We recently had the good fortune of welcoming Mike Coughlin of WhiteHat SEO to one of our team meetings.  Mike did a wonderful job of laying out the three main elements of any SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaign.
1. Research Keywords
At the beginning you research keywords.  A good keyword needs to accurately describe your business.  It also needs to receive search traffic and if you’re going to invest effort in “claiming” a keyword, you need to know that it is possible to displace those websites that appear on the first page of web results.

You can start with just a …

Your marketing writing doesn’t need to be all sell, sell, sell.  Your writing can speak to your customers pre-sale and then post-sale.

I’ve mentioned before the differences between marketing writing and technical writing. You can use both on your web site, in your newsletters, and in various communications to customers and potential customers.
Think “Post-Sale”
After you sell your product or service to a customer—the work was performed and paid for—he still needs to hear from you.

Depending on your business, your customer needs instructions or opinion. If you sell garage door openers, provide installation and how-to-use instructions. If you sell mortgages or cosmetic …

If you use the Web to market yourself, you probably think in terms of marketing writing. But there are ways in which technical writing has its place within your Web presence.

Today, let’s consider the definitions of,  and differences between, marketing writing and technical writing.

Pre-Sale and Post Sale
Marketing writing helps you communicate pre-sale to potential customers, to get their business.

Technical writing helps you communicate post-sale to existing customers, to reduce training time, customer support time (and avoid lawsuits).

Of course, an existing customer—let’s say she hired you to renovate her kitchen– is also a potential …

Yes, I’m a professional writer. Nonetheless, there are words and constructions that still confuse me. Fortunately, I remain aware that I goof up when using some of them—so I turn to my trusty Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words for guidance.  I bought it brand new in 1984 but it hasn’t let me down yet.  And I always get a chuckle out the cover, which considers variations on this famous split infinitive:
Boldly to go

To boldy go

To go boldly
Troublesome Words
Let’s look at three word pairs that confuse me—because I’m sure I’m not alone in my puzzlement.
Affect, effect
Affect, as a verb, …

For generations, English speakers used he, him and his as the unnamed agent in written examples.

No longer. We strive for gender neutrality.

Please don’t strive too hard.
He? or She? Pick one.
Do not shy away from using he when it helps you  make your point.  That said, do not shy away from using she, if that helps you make your point.

(I once worked for a company that gave conferences for nurses, at which 98% of registrants were women. Yet when I drafted instructions such as Hand the registrant her name badge … my boss would correct it to Hand the registrant his …

Often enough, we use the word don’t and do not in our writing.  They’re real words, they convey clear meaning, I’ve got nothing against them.

Yet, often enough, your reader will skip over the “not” part, and think you’re saying “do.”  Here are some tips to help you say No and be sure your reader hears you.
Vocabulary choice
Replace don’t with a precise and unambiguous word. Here are just a few excellent candidates for the job of saying No: Avoid, ban, block, delete, exclude, forbid, hinder, obstruct, omit, prevent, prohibit, reject and stop.

Avoid submerging your toaster in water.    is …

What is Online Ore?
Online Ore is a new feature here at the Gold Mine, and one that has us all fired up.  Each week, on Monday morning we’ll be featuring a new site or service to improve the life or productivity of business owners or their employees.

Online or not, each of these nuggets is a tool that can be used to find value, joy, or efficiency, either inside the workplace or out of it.

So far we have featured

• Mint, a personal finance management site.
• …
  Read More…

This week’s vein of online ore can be found at http://vimeo.com

Vimeo is a high definition, community driven video sharing site.  While most video sharing sites limit the quality or length of the clips you upload, Vimeo allows the full 1280×720 resolution supported by HD TVs and monitors.

As with other video sharing sites, you can embed your favorite clips into your own website, indicate which films you like, and leave comments for the video creator and the other community members who like their work.

And speaking of community, Vimeo’s is highly collaborative, creative, and encouraging  - with their …