You may not worry about it so much when you’re texting a friend about getting together after work. Consider this example, though:

You leave a voicemail message for a potential client you’d like to meet for lunch. Said person replies with a text message. You receive the message while you’re at your son’s baseball game, and though you want to reply immediately, you know you are distracted by the game.

My suggestion here: Take your time! Don’t be so excited to type a reply and hit “send” that you completely forget to make sure what you’ve composed reads well. In such instances, it’s far better to remove yourself from a distracting situation and take a few extra minutes to compose a well-crafted text message.

Realize that if you were meeting this potential client in person, you wouldn’t want to start the conversation with, “I’ll be so glad to meet your. Please sut down.”

Sounds extreme, but you get the idea. No professional text is that important that it can’t be thoroughly proofread. Even if you’re simply typing, “How about 12:30 Tuesday?” you can make mistakes. Be sure what you’ve typed is correct, and you’ll be off to a good start with a potential client or anyone else you’re trying to impress.

P.S. Be sure to reserve common texting abbreviations (LOL, IMAO, etc.) for casual texting only!

I didn’t have to end the headline with an adverb. It would have been very easy to rework the headline: Carefully Choose Your Words. That sounds a little stiff, doesn’t it? Well then, how about this: Choose Your Words With Care.

The point is that more than one way exists to write a good sentence. Writing as we speak is one very common way of doing this. Consider, though, that we have become extremely lax in our writing over the last several years. It’s perfectly acceptable to have a casual style that appeals to a large group of readers; the problem occurs when we get a little too comfortable and throw style, grammar and punctuation out the window.

When we talk about something really exciting or deeply meaning to us, we tend to ramble, but we don’t need to do that when we write. Typing on a keyboard gives us a chance to calm ourselves and gather together the key thoughts we want to express. No need to jabber on or use incorrect style or grammar. Take a deep breath, compose your thoughts and then carefully transfer them to the page or computer screen.

But don’t, under any circumstances, “transfer them to the page or computer screen carefully.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localcle/20110208/ts_yblog_localcle/is-clevelands-answer-to-innovation-blowing-in-the-wind

In other words, life intervenes. And even though writing is a huge part of any writer’s life, it can (and should) take a backseat to family matters and other important obligations.

What happens, then, when one day you realize you haven’t done any writing for several months? Do you throw in the towel and decide you’re never gong to write again? No, you shake off the cobwebs and get right back at it. Which is what I’m doing today.

It has been months — many, many months — since I’ve posted on this blog. I have been meaning to do it; I’ve even mentally written out several posts that I had intended to officially add here. Ask me now what those posts were, and I’d have to honestly say I don’t have a clue. Life got in the way, and writing this blog took a backseat.

The challenge becomes: How do I make this blog a real part of my life again? Do I have the time and the discipline to post here as often as I’d like? Hopefully, yes. Truthfully, I know that deadlines and mini catastrophes will sometimes keep me from meeting my goal. But I’m determined to do my best.

That’s all you can ask of yourself: to do your best. When it comes to writing, your best might be writing an engaging press release or an informative company newsletter. It might be as simple as sending out five or six emails to clients or colleagues this week. Whatever writing is in your near future, don’t fret! Writing, like riding a bike or swimming, comes back to you rather naturally once you get going. Just pull out the keyboard or grab a pen and paper and jot down what you’ve been meaning to write. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect the first time you try. Shake off the cobwebs and keep at it, and before you know it, you’ll be writing up a storm.

Which is what I hope to be doing from now on as well.

Here are 4 tips that can help experienced and novice writers alike build their skills and their confidence:

1. Scrutinize everything you write. It doesn’t matter if it’s an email or a birthday card, take your time with what you’re writing, and reread what you’ve created at least twice. Get a sense of what works and what doesn’t, and think about ways to improve. Should the content be more descriptive? Less wordy? Do you need a refresher course in some grammatical rules? Are you taking up several sentences to say the same thing, just in different ways? But don’t make it all negative. Focus on what’s good about your writing, too. Do you turn a nice phrase? Is your tone professional yet approachable? Do you feel that others will get a crystal-clear image of what your trying to say? The more you analyze your writing, the more aware you’ll be of your writing strengths and weaknesses. Then, you can capitalize on the former while minimizing the latter.

2. Read the content of others. Look at your competitors’ website and blog; reread emails sent to you by colleagues; dig out that industry newsletter from last month. Note words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and whole articles that are well written and make an impact. Does your writing have that same power? It’s not that you want to copy someone else’s writing style; instead, you want to recognize good solid business writing and find ways to enhance your own

3. Read your writing out loud. This is a really good tool that even accomplished writers use. When you read aloud, you get a better feel for the tone of the piece. You’re also likely to catch errors like this: She is is a good friend.

4. Trust yourself. As a skilled professional, you are an authority in your field. Write with authority (but don’t be preachy), and others will admire and respect your prose.

NOTE: For more information on writing and editing for small business owners and entrepreneurs, please visit

My topic was “Editing Your Own Writing.” I had a lot of fun sharing ideas about how to make your work more powerful and more enjoyable for your readers. To view the PowerPoint presentation, please visit file://localhost/Users/dianedipierorodio/Documents/editingyourownwork.htm.

Lakeland holds spring (half-day) and fall (full-day) writers conferences each year. For more information, click here http://www.lakelandcc.edu/communitylearning.

What does this have to do with content for a company website? It’s not like you’re going to create a fictional story about someone who offers great service at a great price. But you can be descriptive about what it is your company does and what sets it apart from the rest.

Take, for example, the two paragraphs below. Which one paints a clearer picture of the company?

1.) Acme Lighting is a well respected industry leader with more than 20 years of experience. We serve seven counties, and our customers rely on us for quality, timeliness and fair prices.

2.) We’ve got bright ideas at Acme Lighting. That’s why folks from as nearby as Cleveland and as far away as Medina have been illuminated by our products and services for more than 20 years. Whether it’s a temporary light display for a sold-out concert at a community park or a lighting design solution for an exciting new company, Acme Lighting has bright ideas at a reasonable price.

The second paragraph gives you visual images of the areas that Acme Lighting serves and the types of projects the company might handle.

It’s not just about fun adjectives or catchy phrases. Telling your company’s story means providing information to readers that helps them see, feel, hear what you do and to clearly understand why you’re the one they should contact for their next project.

http://coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.CleBizGuardianAngel

The event is still on, and it is even more important that extensive research be conducted regarding recurrent breast cancer. Please see the post below to learn about the event and how you can help. Thanks.