July 15th, 2010
Write to Make Things Happen!
Writing is an important part of everyday life and in many cases, your writing needs to do more than just communicate information. It can help change a point of view, attitude or even motivate to act. Here are a few simple tips to help you get results from your writing.
1. Get the reader’s attention. Use a captivating lead sentence that demands continued reading. Consider promising the reader more if they continue. Use a conversational tone to attract and hold attention. Add personal touches.
2. Make it easy to read. Highlight key thoughts by underlining, italicizing or bolding certain key words or phrases. This helps readers that skim get the main point quickly. Think short – write short paragraphs and use short words whenever possible, like ‘use’ rather than ‘utilize’ or ‘help’ instead of ‘assistance’. People can read and understand these faster. Include a postscript. This gives you a chance to sum up your message for readers that skim.
3. Motivate. Help the reader see the benefits by stressing the rewards. Use commanding verbs to get the reader to act, such as ‘Find out how..’ or ‘Mark this date…’ Include a closing thought that readers ‘must’ agree with and that prevents them from saying no. For example, instead of saying “Don’t you think we should improve the paper recycling program?” say, ” Our company spends thousands of dollars on paper each year. A new recycling program would cut that cost in half.”
May 10th, 2010
The official Canadian launch of the Apple iPad is just around the corner. As with most of Apple’s products, a number of great entertainment-type apps will be available. But what about business productivity?
Well, the Apple iPad seems to be exceeding the expectations of even skeptical tech media. While it may not replace the laptop anytime soon, it appears to be more than capable of handling the majority of tasks as well as one.
So, if you’re thinking of leveraging the iPad as a mobile business platform, consider the following applications as part of your business arsenal:
(1) Webex
This Cisco app lets you attend meetings anytime and anywhere using your iPad. It’s free and you don’t need to have a Webex account to attend a meeting. If you want to host or schedule a meeting however, you will need a Webex account. The Webex app for the iPad uses the sizeable iPad screen to view documents, applications, or remote desktops. As an added bonus, It includes simultaneous two-way audio, so you can actually join in the conversation.
(2) Instapaper Pro
This is a universal app, that you pay for once and can work with it across the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Instapaper Pro allows you to cache Web pages to your iPad for future reference. If you are reading an article or blog post online, you can save it with Instapaper Pro and carry it along in your iPad to read later while you are commuting, or standing in line somewhere.
(3) Memeo Connect Reader
This app lets business professionals take their Google Docs with them on the iPad, even when the iPad is offline. Memeo Connect Reader can view a wide variety of file formats natively, including Microsoft Office formats. It syncs automatically with Google Docs to ensure you always have the most current data on your iPad.
(4) iWork for iPad
iWork apps parallel Microsoft Office tools. Pages does word processing like Word, Numbers works with spreadsheets like Excel, and Keynote does slide presentations like PowerPoint. With iWork for iPad, you can import files from iWork ’09, as well as from Microsoft Office. This allows business professionals who want to use an iPad for mobile business productivity the means to review, edit or present important files and documents while on the road.
While the iPad will likely prove to be a more than an adequate laptop replacement, IT administrators and business professionals will want to consider the platform’s security limitations.
Tags: business productivity
March 12th, 2010
Social media is becoming a mainstream marketing method. The reasons vary, but larger corporations are jumping on this bandwagon because of declining consumer trust. With the rise of social media and its ‘word of mouth attributes’, corporations can more easily build trust as their message is being amplified by the consumers themselves. These companies are reaching out to those who are listening through their executive team or an in-house social media expert/team; letting them talk for the organization and connect with like-minded people. There are many ways that social media can work for any size of business and the opportunities are truly endless. For example, this medium allows organizations to run contests, which lends itself to creating exciting and original content through ‘crowd sourcing’. Ford did this brilliantly with their Ford Fiesta contest, where people could win a chance to drive a new Fiesta for 6 months. To see the results of this contest, visit the Ford Fiesta Movement website at http://chapter1.fiestamovement.com/.
