April-May-June 2011 - Issue #79

• Intro
  
• Featured Client - Powder Coating Solutions
  
• Article - When useful words are redundant (overkill)
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Grammar Question of the Month - Jibe/Gibe
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans Microsoft Word
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Word of the Month - Millennials
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  
• Judy's Photo Gallery
  

* Are "hits" significant to your website's bottom line? People sometimes get excited at the number of "hits" they received on their websites, thinking they are all visitors. It's time to relax where hits are concerned. Most Web pages have numerous components. If a page contains ten graphics (photos, logos, buttons, etc.), then statistics will show eleven hits (the page itself is considered a hit).

* The Cult of Volume. "Volume is a deeply negative metric for web success," says Gerry McGovern. "No other metric encourages worst practice more than measuring success based on number of visitors. But just because it's easy to measure doesn't mean it's the right thing to measure.

"When we manage what's easy to measure, rather than what is right to measure, we're not really managing at all." http://www.customercarewords.com/

If you own and operate a business website, think about this. One way to measure is to learn how much your website converts visitors to customers. Conversion trumps volume.

Powder Coating Solutions began as a vision for a vacant lot. Since the grand opening of this 6,000 sq. ft. finishing facility in April 2003, business has steadily increased. Powder Coating Solutions is a custom job shop specializing in specific jobs that require a finish that provides durable protection from chemicals, weathering, and abrasion resistance.

If you're a car restoration fanatic or a manufacturing firm that fabricates parts for large corporations, such as cart frames, machined housings, castings, or sheet metal, you've found the best in the business. Tucked away in Lake City, Minnesota, this company does impeccable work and offers the best customer service. http://www.powdercoatingmn.com

"Of the three ailments likely to infect a proposal-tired superlatives," says Michael W. McLaughlin, "buzzwords, and the plague of pronouns-superlatives are the most insidious."

Read his snappy (couldn't resist the superlative!) article, Words to Avoid in Proposals, on Business Know-How's site: http://tinyurl.com/3frz35v

One of the reasons I like this article is that it reminds me to be careful: I have many lists of words to use in writing and editing, a thesaurus on my Kindle, my hard drive, and in book form, and dictionaries coming from every direction. A few of the lists include:

Make or Break Words!
100 WORDS THAT GET ATTENTION AND HAVE SALES APPEAL
POWER WORDS THAT SELL
Hypnotic words/phrases
Best Headline Words/Best Headline Phrases
Important Verbs
Taxonomy Verb List

Granted, McLaughlin is talking about words to avoid in proposals. As I read the article, I realized that the same is true when writing websites. And when editing documents.

He uses a superb (hey, the superlative fits so well) example: "we deliver unparalleled solutions that create leverage for the enterprise." What does this really say?

McLaughlin says that superlatives are like weeds in a lawn: unless checked, superlatives are the most insidious. I can relate. My life includes an ongoing battle with weeds in my front and back yards. I can spray the weeds, go to sleep that night, and wake up to discover (after enjoying a cup of coffee) fresh new weeds popping up in the yard and even in cement cracks.

Is it possible you go to sleep and dream of scintillating superlatives to sprinkle on your next proposal or landing page? Resist the temptation. Just be authentic and brief. Maybe not as brief as a Tweet, but only write what's needed to get the point across. Kind of like the people who created petroglyphs. They didn't "write" any more or any less than what was needed to get a message across.

"Okay, Judy. Describe your business. Briefly."

Right: I help people find reader-friendly words, phrases, and sentences for their websites, articles, and documents.

Got a better idea for a description? Click reply and fire away.

1. 15 MARKETING TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW
http://kaplancopy.com/blog/2011/05/26/marketing-terms-glossary/

2. 5 REASONS WHY RANKINGS ARE A POOR MEASURE OF SUCCESS BY JILL WHALEN
http://tinyurl.com/cj5aj3

3. SOCIAL MEDIA: A LITTLE LESS TALK & A LOT MORE ACTION PLEASE!
http://tinyurl.com/3zxkeoz

4. THE HTML DOCUMENT CHARACTER SET
http://natural-innovations.com/wa/doc-charset.html

5. HOW TO MANAGE A NARCISSIST
http://tinyurl.com/6dznhqn

JIBE: to fit/coincide (penalty didn't jibe with the crime)
GIBE: insult/taunt (the crowd hurled gibes at the condemned men)

Last editing location

Just one of the objections about Word is that when you go to reopen a document you have been slaving over, it opens at the start of the document. Word seems to have a short memory span and constantly starts you off at the beginning again unlike Excel which takes you to the spot where you last left off.

However, there is a work-around - press "Shift+F5" as soon as the document opens.

This keyboard shortcut normally cycles you between your four latest edits during a Word session. So if you hit it immediately on opening the document then Word will immediately go to the last thing you changed before you saved and closed it.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. IDEA ENGINE
http://ideas.bighugelabs.com/

2. HOW TO BUILD A WEB WRITING PORTFOLIO EVENIF YOU HAVE NO EXPERIENCE
http://tinyurl.com/ccd9lv

"Millenials, the generation born between 1984 and 2003, spend $43 billion annually," says youth marketing trendsetter Tina Wells, "and collectively are redefining America's cultural landscape and its economy. Kid culture - replete with cell phones, laptops, iPods and iPads - is having a direct impact on how Americans live, work and play." Read riveting interview by Wells in BL Ochman's What's Next Blog: http://tinyurl.com/6bp8f3t

1. TEN THINGS YOU WILL WANT TO PRACTICE SHOOTING IN SUMMER
http://tinyurl.com/267t4py

2. WHAT TO DO WHEN A CLIENT IS TICKED OFF:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/angry-client.htm

3. STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
http://www.whatsnextblog.com/straight-talk-about-social-media/

4. DAVE'S GARDEN: EXCELLENT, FUN GARDENING SITE
http://davesgarden.com/

5. SILLY SEO STUPIDITY by Jill Whalen
http://www.highrankings.com/hra308

"The more I see that the valuable growth comes most often from getting out of our own way and letting what's inside surface, rather than adding something new to ourselves." Joel D Canfield

Enjoy your summer!

Prickly Pear Beavertail Cactus, Peoria, AZ
Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

Yellow Cactus Blossoms, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

Desert Bluebells, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

Giant Argentine Cactus Blossom, Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

Julia Butterfly, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

Lace Hedgehog Cactus Blossoms, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
Photographed and redigitized by Judy Vorfeld

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