Looking for something to write this April Fools’ Day?  Try turning your product (or business model) on its head.

For example, if mb/i were in the business of making websites less attractive, we’d probably produce a geocities-izer of our own.

If you can get your audience to scratch their head and wonder if you’re serious - you’ve won!  Just remember to clear up any confusion on April 2.  Better still, schedule a clarification to launch at 12:01 a.m.

In January, Dale Riehart wrote a great list of ways to prepare for working with a professional writer. One of his suggestions is that business clients prepare a positioning statement.

Of course, a positioning statement isn’t just important for a professional writer. It’s a valuable tool to have whenever you want to talk about your product or company. Think of it like an elevator pitch for copy - short and to the point. So how do you prepare a positioning statement?

Dale offers a proven and elegant solution: ad-libs.

Just fill in the blanks appropriately and …

We all know that I have a vested interest in promoting mb/i, that Tim Cook has an interest in promoting Apple, and that you are interested in the success of your own business endeavor.  So when you tell me how much better my life will be with your product, why should I believe you?

Wait!

Hold that thought, because you can’t.  However, independent research, competitive data, and honest testimonials can.  If you’re looking for something to write in your blog, tell me where I can find these things.  And if you’re so inclined, expand upon them.  Your readers will make up their …

Easy to Read is Easy to Understand
You might have a beautiful site design, and a powerful message. It’s little use to you if people have trouble reading the words. I’ve got five things you can do to be sure your paragraph content is easy for your site visitor to read.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about paragraph content, not your headings.
1. Use a single standard font.
Pick one font for your paragraph content and use it, and it only.  You’re saying unprofessional loud and clear when you mix fonts from paragraph-to-paragraph or page-to-page.

Use a font that is unremarkable. Fancy type faces are …

Looking for something to blog about?  Try answering this question:

Who would have done your job in a different age?

There was a time when barbers handled dental care… as a side job.  Fire brigades were very different from the modern firefighters. Who handled your functions in the past, and what did they do differently?  Answering this question can highlight why your profession is valuable while pointing out the services you perform and traditions you uphold.  And besides, fun facts and historical trivia are a great way to hook readers.

I got some ribbing from a colleague last week for beginning an email message “Dear Dave.” Dear? Dear? Why not simply Hi Dave, she wanted to know.

Here’s why I choose to use Dear:

• Dave is the head honcho on a project on which BJ and I are working. He is the final decision-maker, which includes the power to hire and fire me.
• We rarely meet, rarely speak and rarely correspond. This is not to say he is cold or forbidding; I just do most of my work with the other consultants on the project.
• I was writing, on behalf …
  Read More…

How would the world be different if your industry didn’t exist?
Who would take over it’s essential functions? How would they handle things differently? What social good would be lost?

Your answers will make a great blog post, a good addition to a statement of purpose, and provide fruitful ground to farm for social media contributions.

Looking for something to write?  Start by describing a scene from your ideal world.  Now tell me how your business or after-hours activities will bring it about.  Is there something that I, the reader can do to help?

You know that thing about the pig—where you use everything except the squeal? That’s my philosophy when it comes to content. I repurpose everything because I’m just too busy and stingy not to be getting maximum mileage out of everything I write.

I’m a writer and manage digital media for my clients who are mostly small companies and solo practitioners. They’re generally overworked and overwhelmed by the constant assault of information about what they “should” be doing to market themselves. You know how this goes—“20 dashboard applications that you can’t live without.” No one needs 20 applications that do the same …

Drum roll, please! It’s time for Word of the Year, 2011:  Occupy

Each year, the American Dialect Society votes for the “vocabulary item” (perhaps a word, perhaps a phrase ) that was in common use or had a high profile (meaning, all us common folk might not have used it but the media sure did).

Occupy, of course, refers to the movement about…uh, did anyone figure out what it was about? I live near Oakland, which got plenty of media attention for its Occupy Movement, and from what I read, the occupiers  focused on being, to say the least, an enormous inconvenience …