communication | Shiny Bits of Life

Cultural differences

September 7, 2010 By Paul 1 Comment

Dear friends recently left us to return to Malaysia. They gave us some Boh Lemon Myrtle tea as a parting gift.

It’s nice – not a flavor (or flavour) you will easily find on the shelves of your local supermarket in North America or Europe.

So first, myrtle is a tree, I think. That might hurt their marketing efforts, should they try to launch in the States. Second, we rarely put single quote marks around the title of any product.

For those of you who are into Facebook, as of an update to this post, Boh Tea is liked by 17,019 people.

Filed Under: communication, culture Tagged With: boh tea

You must speak their language

August 31, 2010 By Paul Leave a Comment

My Aunt Mary hadn’t heard from us in a while. She doesn’t do email. So I picked up a pen and applied it to paper. So she will receive a nice letter this week.

Takeaway? Do something that communicates to people in a language they understand. They will be grateful. And it may well be a satisfying experience for you too!

(Besides, I like getting letters in the mail. So I was just passing that joy along. My brother does do email, but we still exchange letters. There is something about the hold-in-your-hands experience that can’t be beat.)

Filed Under: communication Tagged With: communication, letters

Simplify

August 20, 2010 By Paul 1 Comment

Two receipts were given to me after I bought a few pieces of flagstone for a Saturday afternoon project. One was nicely generated by the cash register – complete with a little marketing message at the bottom (“On August 28th, the first 40 customers receive a free reusable bag!”). And then there was the no-technology carbon-copy of a hand-written receipt, showing the weight of the flagstones I purchased.

Santa Fe Sand & Gravel could save themselves time and money by integrating their systems – so that all the info is on the computer-assisted receipt.

Takeaway: Simplify. What are some ways you can simpilfy your business – or life – by eliminating redundant systems?

Filed Under: communication, marketing Tagged With: marketing

You must stand out

July 28, 2010 By Paul 3 Comments

This tower of public notices stands in downtown Boulder, Colorado – the home of a university with more than 30,000 students. Most of the posters are for live music events.

Did you notice that all of them look more or less the same?

How hard would it be to design a poster with catchy full-color photo surrounded by a significantly large white border ? Or maybe a 98% black poster with just a tiny bit of white type in the center? Then just put one on top of about every fifth standard poster. Those would stand out.

Takeaway: Let’s think outside the box, my friends.

Filed Under: communication, marketing Tagged With: posters

Unpublished?

July 2, 2010 By Paul 3 Comments

A very minor shiny bit to leave you with for this long holiday* weekend…

I found it highly amusing that in the latest Communication Arts magazine, there is an entire section devoted to unpublished artwork. How can the works be unpublished when the magazine has published them?

(*Independence Day in the States, to those of you not here.)

Filed Under: Life, art, communication Tagged With: Communication Arts

What’s a better use?

May 20, 2010 By Paul Leave a Comment

grabill-campaign My friend Jon Swanson spearheaded a great campaign to reduce the debt his church has on their building. He came up with several ways to view how the monthly mortgage payments could be better used – in this instance, one monthly payment could be used to fund a large number of New Testaments, rather than paying interest.

Takeaway: What are some ways you can use your resources in a better way?

Filed Under: communication, marketing

Who responds?

May 17, 2010 By Paul 1 Comment

spam-names These lovely names are the supposed senders of spam that appeared recently in my gmail spam folder.

They have these characteristics:
- They are not normal spellings of English names.
- They are all female.
- Often the last name is a first name.

What does this tell me about spam?
- Those who respond are usually male.
- Those who respond might speak English as poorly as the spam authors.
- It’s fun to read these bizarre names.

Retire online

May 13, 2010 By Paul 3 Comments

retire-online I thought that this headline represented an unusual choice. I chalk it up to marketing innocence – or ignorance.

My thoughts were several: does this mean that I can retire if I start an online business? That Patty Duke has already retired online, except for her promising modeling career? That this website (not prominently featured) would help me to learn how to retire? That as an internet user, I am encouraged to help an older person who does not know how to use the internet?

Takeaway: Writers, let’s think a little more carefully before we publish those headlines.

Filed Under: communication, marketing Tagged With: marketing, writing

Let’s focus

May 10, 2010 By Paul 2 Comments

ft-wayne-air-museum So I went on a business trip last week. My itinerary included three airports. The Fort Wayne airport had a museum devoted to airplanes and flying. It was small, but I enjoyed my visit.

My only critical comment was that there was absolutely no focus. As you can tell from these photos, the display ranged from Leonardo da Vinci and Lego fighter jets to a large section on Art Smith, a local pioneer in the realm of flying.

Takeaway: How can you bring focus to what you are doing? (And many may point that finger at me – how can I bring focus to this blog? I have thought about that – but I enjoy being able to cover a wide range of topics. I’m seriously pondering a separate site where I do focus more. This site will most likely remain my sandbox to play in.)

Filed Under: communication, marketing, travel

Plain language

April 23, 2010 By Paul 7 Comments

algo-v-formula There is tension. A friend strongly advocates the use of plain language in communicating. I tend to agree. In fact, there is a whole movement around this idea.

When I’m writing for this blog or for work, I always try to use words that communicate the most simply. Why use flowery words when plain words will communicate faster?

Heather and I received ballots from our local government for a small election issue. The ballot was worded by lawyers (who are not known for plain language). It was not understandable by either of us. (Heather has a master’s degree, and I have completed three courses towards one, so we’re not dumb.)

Back to the tension… my sister Sharon says that this movement is “dumbing down” America. Her profession lies in the health care field, and she feels many important details are lost when problems are explained to patients. This is true in many other professional realms.

Which side do you fall on?

Filed Under: communication Tagged With: language

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