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 modifier of a noun—and which noun does it modify?

Nouns strings are the curse of government text, technical writing (not mine), pretentious menus, and headlines. Let’s consider how to recognize them, avoid writing them, and chuckle at them.

Build a better string

Three nouns in a row should be your maximum. Once you get past three, your reader has to re-read the string to sort out what each noun means and what it modifies. Here are ways to either reduce the nouns in the string or or ensure that you convey your meaning clearly.

Remove any descriptive words that aren’t essential.

Bad: The husky Iowan redshirt freshman quarterback.

Better: The redshirt freshman quarterback.

Use more prepositions and articles.

Bad: Postoperative patient nursing assessment protocol.

Better: Protocol to assess the nursing of postoperative patients.

another

Bad (although amusing): Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim

Clearer:  Squad Helps Dog Bite Its Victim

Clearer: Squad Helps Victim Bitten by Dog

Avoid modifying nouns within the noun string itself. At the least, hyphenate for clarity:

Bad: the left wing flange grommet sprocket

Do you mean:  the left wing-flange grommet sprocket

Do you mean:  left-wing flange grommet sprocket

or: The wing flange grommet sprocket on the left

Be vigilant!  Consider your audience!  If you often write nouns strings, you might be using jargon common to your profession. If you are writing to your office mates, they might understand you. If you are writing to a customer, they might not.

Be Clear About It’s Goal

I’m stupefied by the number of clients that come to me not clear of their website’s goal. Sure, some have way too many goals (like the one in the picture) but if the goals are clear you can create a positive user experience. Knowing whether you are trying to gather information, make sales or build your brand awareness are critical to a website’s success.

Realize that your Home Page May Have a Different Goal

Think about this for a second. When you first come to a site you usually enter through their main home or index page. If this page is already trying to sell you or is “in-you-face” you might not want to stay. The key to discovering this goal is to know who you are trying to attract to the larger goal(s) of your site and what will interest them. Yes - targeting again. (I think I’m going to change my middle name to targeting.)

Plan for Repeat Visitors

If you intend to provide fresh content or anything else that encourages repeat visits you need to determine where those visitors will enter your site. Landing pages can be anywhere within your site. This is where Google Analytics comes in handy. You can very easily determine where visitors enter your site. Those pages need careful design and content consideration.

These are starting points for most, but a great check-up for established sites too. You audience grows and evolves. Your site needs to evolve with their needs and interests. If you feel out-of-touch with your customer’s interests you can try a survey or small segment interviews (if you have a local audience.) Don’t allow your website, home page and landing pages to stagnate. Give them regular attention and your audience will continue to be interested in you and your products.

Want to use this article on your website?  That’s great, but please include the next section beneath it.

Paula Pollock is CEO of the Pollock Marketing Group, further assisting good companies in becoming great through outsourced marketing services with her team of professionals. PMG supports business marketing at all levels from DIY, short-term projects and Virtual CMO/Marketing Department. You can sign up to receive her Marketing Tips newsletter at www.paulapollock.com

• Two weeks ago I looked at idea and form, which sit at the core of the creative process.
• One week ago I examined idiom and structure, and what role they play in web design.
• Today we finish the journey by looking at craft and surface.

Craft

The craft is all the accumulated bits of knowledge and technique that let an artist turn their ideas and design decisions into art.  Online this typically means a knowledge of computer code, common browser errors, methods for creating specific visual effects, and various other best practices.  A site that loads quickly, runs without errors, and maintains consistently professional brand messaging throughout has been well crafted.  To pull this off seamlessly, the whole of the web development team plays a part in the crafting process, as each has their own area of specialty.  Part of Marissa’s skill here at MB/I has been to build a team of consummate craftsmen that includes Natalya, Wendy, and Zac.

Surface

The surface of the design is simultaneously its most and least important element.  Most people will decide whether or not they want to stay on a website within a second of landing.  If you don’t look to be professional and up-to-date, you might as well bid your web traffic a bon voyage right now.

It’s also easy to over-invest in the surface.  Ten years ago, everyone who was anyone would have a Flash landing page.  Now they’re out of vogue, and often viewed as just one more click or delay before a visitor can get to the real content.  The new fashion is social media integration, and for the time being you ignore it at your own peril.

However, the surface really is just the outermost layer of a design.  No matter what decisions you make, they will eventually pale in the face of the next new thing.  What’s really important is the strength of the underlying ideas, infrastructure, and craft.

Besides, now that Content Management Systems are in widespread use, it is easy to build a new surface layer to polish up an otherwise sound design.

Other Philosophies of Design

Understanding Comics spoke directly to my personal experiences because of my interest in semiotics (the study of meaningful symbols) and the many years I spent studying the cartoonist’s craft.  However, I am always interested in reading other takes on the design process.  If you have any other design books to recommend, please do so below!

Thank you.

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.

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

Using Since tells us when Rafe began dating brunettes. The clause he broke up with Dominique refers to time; I could write instead since May 12 (the date Dominque dumped him).

Using Because tell us why Rafe is dating brunettes—His last girlfriend was a blonde.

My advice: Check your writing for the word since. Do you really mean because? Go ahead and say so!

Like or Such as?

• Like refers to affection or preference.

I like the Oakland A’s.

He had every quality Dominique was seeking—he even liked opera.

• Such as refers to an item, quality, or characteristic .

He had visited many ball parks, such as Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Fenway.

He has excellent skills, such as fluent Esperanto.

When speaking, we’d probably say “He’s visited many ball parks, like Wrigley Field.”  Such  colloquial usage might be acceptable in speech, but avoid it in writing.

Remember: Don’t make your reader work any harder than necessary! When we see like in print, we first think of its most common definition: Affection. Although we might quickly discern that that is not what’s meant, it still takes those few seconds to adjust our grasp of the sentence’s meaning, which interrupts the flow of reading and comprehension.

(An added advantage of such as, when it prefaces a list, is it’s indication that the list is representative, not comprehensive. There’s no need to add a weak etc. at the end).

My advice: Check your writing for the word like. If you’re using it to preface a list of items or a quality, change it to such as.

Sometimes it would be nice of somebody would just stop and take the time to take all this data that our ever expanding infosphere has made available, and turn it into something understandable.

Worry not: relief is in sight!

Designers and data analysts from around the web have been finding ways to fit this information into familiar visual paradigms so that the rest of us can start to make sense of it all.  What follows are ten of our favorite infographics on social media.

1> The Art of Listening

Social media is something of a catch-all term that can be applied to several different types of sites.  The Art of Listening does a good job of listing the best known social media sites and identifying where they fit within the social media spectrum.

Source: www.pamorama.net

2> Building a Company with Social Media

Even if you can name and identify the different types of social media, it can be difficult to pick out which ones will be most useful to your company or department.  These colorful administrators would be glad to help!

Source: searchengineoptimization.elliance.com

3> Life Cycle of a Blog Post

We especially like to help businesses craft their first branded company blog.  But what happens to those posts once you put them online?  This interactive picture published by WIRED Magazine helps you see how your post gets to readers and other interested parties, and also the routes it takes to get to them.

Source: www.wired.com

4> Donut Marketing

As you develop a more expansive social media presence, you should think about developing your website into the hub that connects all of the pieces in one place.  If you hear Scott or Marissa mention Social Media Integration, this is what’ they’re talking about.

Source: searchengineoptimization.elliance.com

5> People Streams

Donut Marketing showed you how to arrange your online presence, People Streams shows you why.  Each social media network that you join can become an ingress to your website, where you can control the message, the display, and the overall visitor experience.

Source: searchengineoptimization.elliance.com

6> Air Force Web Posting Response Assessment

An important part of maintaining a social media presence is knowing when and how to respond to other people’s posts.  If someone is out there looking for a fight, trying to “correct” them can sometimes be the worst thing you can do for your brand.  When in doubt, you can probably find guidance in this flow chart put out by the U.S. Air Force.

7> Social Network Map

A slightly more tongue in cheek approach to social media can be found in this 2010 “map” inspired by the comic XKCD.  Each “continent” has been sized according to the amount of traffic the corresponding social network receives.

Source: www.flowtown.com

8> Twitter Territory

Twitter makes a fairly big “continent,” doesn’t it?  If you’re curious how it shapes up in the real world, this map shows you the adoption rate by state and highlights which states are above and  below average for the USA.

Source: www.hubspot.com

9> Ages of Social Network Users

Knowing the age of your desired audience can also play an important roll in deciding which social network is right for you.  This chart uses vibrant colors and an unambiguous layout to make that determination easy.

Source: royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/

10> World Map of Social Media Networks

We all know that Facebook is the current king of traffic in the United States, but those who serve a wider client base will want to consider each of their client bases.  This map based on 2007 data shows which network dominates each country.

Source: manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com

Have you found another valuable infographic?

Please take the space below to tell us all about it!

Social Media is a vehicle to share information with a broad audience twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to being any form of online publication or presence that allows users to engage in multi-directional conversations, it is a way to build relationships with the public. Online tools allow businesses to keep in touch with customers and easily update them on what’s new, whether it is products, services, events, an interesting insight or a new hire to the team. Basically, Social Media is the “wave of the now.”

What to know about Social Media

Social Media is not an overnight fix to get you a hoard of fans or followers. Initially, it may be difficult to see a clear return on investment from these applications. The goal is to create a buzz for online conversations about your brand, product or service. Social Media is about connecting, exchanging information, opinions, experience, insights and building customer relations. Before results are seen, time and effort must be put into these areas. It is based on a “give to get” principle.

How to Use Social Media

Before creating a business page or profile, make a personal account and look over other business pages to familiarize yourself with the site. Next, know your business plan. Be realistic about how much time can be dedicated to Social Media and do not spread yourself too thin. Social Media sites should be maintained regularly to gain a real following.

Create a Social Media checklist for your business. This checklist can be a reminder of when, where and what to post. Break it into categories for daily, semi-weekly and weekly activities. Posting Facebook updates once a day (but no more than three times a day) to three times a week is generally a good plan. Being consistent with what days you post a blog will help your customers know when to expect updates. Make sure you connect your Social Media sites! It is now easier than ever for a business to have their blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts connected.

What Information to Share

It is a good idea to share information that has value and to build your reputation as a go-to person in your field of expertise. Offer your audience tips or get them to ask you questions. Make sure to address and answer questions posted to help build your position as a reliable source of information. By doing this, your customers may refer you to their friends and followers which will help expand your online network.

When posting, deliver short, effective messages. Keep posts conversational and friendly, it is not like placing a Yellow-pages ad. Make things interactive. Ask a lighthearted, simple question of your fans and followers; even a yes or no question is fine. This will really promote interaction from your clientele and show them that their opinions matter.

In addition to knowing what to post, keep in mind what not to post. Do not violate employee or client confidentiality and you may need to add a policy about this in your employee handbook. Do not push sales. Remember to be smart about what information goes up about your business and do not share too much.

Help your business flourish by jumping on the Social Media bandwagon. Get your feet wet and let your brand name and ideas be distributed online all day and all night. Don’t forget to start asking your clients, “Have you checked us out on Facebook?”

1. We decided on content

We took this as an opportunity to have a balance of work-related posts and fun/personal ones with the goal of showing the world who we are behind the scenes. Where else can you post a link to a good article, a photo of a thank you gift sent to a client, and a description of a yummy dish at a favorite restaurant? I was a little nervous at first, but I have to admit it’s fun to share such content. I recommend making a list of the type of content you can post on your Facebook page. The point is to be more social; have fun with it.

2. We assigned a gatekeeper

Just like any other internal task, if there isn’t someone responsible for it, it ends up at the bottom of the list after all client projects. Even though we all contribute to our page, we send our content to one person—Michelle—so she can organize and keep track of it. You want to assign this task to someone you trust can write appropriate, short blurbs for all entries in a friendly voice. He/she will also need to do some minor graphics work to enhance any photos you post.

3. We created a schedule

A deadline helps. We decided to post twice a week: on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Tuesday we post at least 1 entry and on Fridays we post several. During our internal marketing huddles on Fridays, we quickly brainstorm next week’s Facebook’s entries and assign homework to the appropriate team member. Decide on a schedule; saying you will do it when you have time will get you nowhere. And you have to be consistent in Facebook so it pays off. Try and stay ahead at least by a week so you’re not struggling to keep your schedule.

Armed with a schedule, someone in charge, and a clear idea of what we were going to write about, we created a page.

4. We created a page

We decided to create a business page instead of a personal profile. We want to talk about the business as a whole and not one particular individual. There are also advantages to having a business page: you can brand it, you can add your own tabs, and everyone can see it—not just those with a Facebook account.

5. We customized our page

Now that our page was set up, we proceeded to customize it. The first thing we did was design our branded area. This is an area of 200 pixels wide by up to 600 pixels tall. It’s an image that gets placed on the top left. Facebook then uses a square portion of that image as your avatar. Give this image some thought. Part of it is what everyone will see next to every post you make. It should identify you quickly and should be consistent with the overall branding of your company. Also, remember that many people who may see your page don’t know you and may be meeting you for the first time in Facebook. Take this opportunity to describe your business while you brand your page.

Next, we created 2 custom tabs: Meet the Fish and Fish Food. Meet the Fish allows us to describe each team member in a more personal way—way more so that we would on our website. And Fish Food is where we add anything that nourishes our creativity. This is the fun stuff!

Think of what tabs you may want to add to customize your page. You want them to have fairly static content… unless you are comfortable dealing with HTML code.

6. We added some content

We wanted to have some content right away when our first visitor came to visit instead of a brand new blank page. We entered about 9 posts before we let anyone know we were live. I recommend doing the same. There is no incentive for visitors to “like you” if there is nothing there for them to see.

7. We pre-launched

When you first create a page, Facebook gives you a very long, complicated URL—one that you don’t really want to pass around. You have to wait until you get 25 “likes” on your page to get a “vanity” URL—basically a short URL of your choice. So, we did a pre-launch. We emailed about 100 people so we could get our 25 likes. Email your closest friend, family members, business colleagues, and clients and let them know what you’re trying to accomplish. They will help you out.

8. We launched

Once we got our vanity URL (www.facebook.com/mbiweb), we told everyone in our database, added it on LinkedIn, posted it on Twitter, and sent a special issue of our online newsletter. We also added the Facebook icon with a link to our website, blog, email signature, and newsletter template. Remember that just because your page is live, that doesn’t mean you will get traffic to it… marketing is key.

It’s been about 3 weeks since we launched. We are maintaining our schedule of posting twice a week and are thinking of ways to generate traffic, such as a contest (stay tuned). And, we are learning to be patient. It takes a while to get a following; you need to think in terms of the long term.

This is how we chose to approach being on Facebook. What approach did you try? And, is it working?

However, once you bring a developer into the process, they’re going to want to get at the infrastructure of the design, and for this we’ll need to move onto the next two layers.

Idiom

The design’s idiom is like its genre - a set of design standards that help visitors to stylistically distinguish one kind of presence from another.  You have likely encountered several of these idioms of web design without even thinking about it: blogs, news sites, Facebook pages, online stores, interactive brochures, animated showcase environments.  You may already have an idea of what format you want to use, but it does not hurt to ask your web developer which style of web site they think best serves your idea and resources.  Better still, ask them what the different types of websites are.  If your web developer can define common web site variations in an easy to understand manner, it fair to assume that they also understand the capabilities and limitations of each of those idioms.

Structure

Structuring a design involves taking the idea, form and idiom, and connecting them in a compelling manner that fits the needs of your specific project.  It is here where a developer like Marissa Berger really gets the chance to shine.  A developer with an eye for structure will undoubtedly want to get at who is visiting the site, whether or not there is a narrative to help drive their path, what level of access visitors and administrators will have, what information can go live right away (or needs to be held for internal approval first), who should have access to that information, and how it will be displayed.  A site that you can navigate without a second thought has been well structured, and if it draws you along a particular path without your realizing it, you have encountered a masterwork.

Next Week

We come to the final stages of the design process, the craft and surface.

Thank you, Lindsay, I hope you enjoy these treasures we gathered for you from around the web.

Save the Words!

“Pick me!”

“Me, me, meeee”

“No, pick me”

These are the cries of disused words in danger of being dropped from the English lexicon. The Oxford English Dictionary has gathered them all into one place so that may make one final plea for circulation. Logophiles (“word lovers” to the rest of us) can get advice on how to spread or adopt the words, and previous owners of the Condensed OED will appreciate the site’s magnifying glass motif.

Bookworm

Bookworm is a fun and addictive word game that tests your vocabulary against the clock. There are rewards for building longer words, but if you let any of your letters sit disused for long enough, you’ll get burned. This game was one of the earlier creations of Popcap, the company that developed the Facebook hit Bejeweled Blitz and the award winning Plants vs. Zombies.

Wordle

As High King Azaz, the Unabridged, (from Norton Juster’s novel The Phantom Tollbooth) would most likely tell you, there is an art to the use of words. Nothing drives that point home more than Wordle, an online program can take any essay, blog, or transcript and turn it into a literal picture of words.

MLA Language Map

It’s easy to forget, but the Modern Language Association does produce more than style guides and topical bibliographies. This interactive map can give you a county-by-county view of language use within the United States.

We hope you enjoy your gifts and wish you many happy returns!

GMail

Here’s a message I wrote up in my Gmail account and sent to myself (to three of my other email addresses).  The photo I attached is of my collie, the smiling Archee McLeash.

Yahoo!

My GMail-generated email landed in my Yahoo! email account with the photo up top. The whole email looked like this:

Hotmail

In Hotmail, the photo was back at the bottom, but large (I cropped the message here, to save some space).

Microsoft Outlook

Wow!  Outlook made some big changes. The text was sent in Arial, but shows up in Times New Roman. Microsoft-provided text is appended to the bottom. And the photo isn’t displayed; it’s only attached as a link. My recipient would need to click on it to open it up.

What do you want them to see?

None of these email services are doing anything wrong, nor is one “better” than another. My message appeared correctly everywhere I sent it: Correctly, but with differences.

• Font change. If you send emails using a certain font as part of your brand or image, your reader might not see that font. Font appearances are often governed by system defaults or by preferences the user sets up.
• Photos. If you use an email signature that includes your photo, your reader might not receive it as part of the email message. It might come as an unopened attachment.
• Colors, bold, italics: I didn’t add such variations to my test emails. Would they make a difference? I don’t know, but that’s the point.

Send email to yourself, or to a friend or colleague who will report back to you (offer to return the favor), so you can be sure to structure email messages that look good wherever they travel.