A couple of weeks ago I joined a LinkedIn group of marketers, thinking I was going to read some brilliant prose. Oh, boy, shock of my life! These people get on and post some of the most poorly punctuated material I’ve ever read. Even though they don’t seem to be embarrassed, I am embarrassed for them.
Here’s an example:
both are good. but internal resources end up knowing your product / service so intimately that they’re writing can be much more profound and interesting.
They break their arms patting themselves on the back because they are all such “thought leaders,” but when I go to their websites, I find this…
1) Our team of globally-renowned writers are hand-picked for each project because of their focus and experience on that particular vertical.
2) We believe that, while SEO is of preeminent importance in today’s search-centric world, high-end journalistic excellence remains the core of our being; the focus of our every move.
3) Build strong brand affinity by creating relevant content that touches on every passion of your core audience—and converts them into your biggest fans.
4) Launching in January 2013, Discover saw over 1 million UMV’s within the first month of launch.
5) Our writers interviewed various Olympic athletes and wrote 500 originally-reported stories to be showcased on the Olympic Pulse Page daily.
6) We then built the custom content to support the brand, their mobile and desktop platforms, and marketing initiatives.
7) We helped Lasso create a go-to-market strategy by doing a high-visibility guerilla-style launch at SXSW in Austin, TX.
8) We produced all of the product copy for the Patagonia’s women’s snow/winter clothing for Patagonia’s 40th Anniversary edition of their catalog for Fall 2013.
Those were all from the same site. Here’s some more from Thomson Reuters.
9) Join us in January as a newly re-imagined Marketing Partner Forum returns to Terranea for a three day summit on collaborative strategies in business development.
10) Take advantage of Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute sponsorship opportunities- events, live and on demand webcasts, newsletters, blogs or professional publications, and you gain immediate access to the best quality audience in law.
11) BLOG AND E-NEWSLETTER SPONSORSHIP – Tell your organization’s story with an in-depth blog posting or article to decision makers’ actively seeking new information.
To round things out, here are a few more “problem” sentences from more people who should know better.
12) We’re your locally-owned, independently-minded neighborhood bookstore with three locations in South Florida – Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Bal Harbour Shops – and affiliate stores in Grand Cayman, Westhampton Beach, and the Miami International Airport.
13) She is a regular speaker at conferences and events including the Singapore Writer’s Festival.
14) Some of her advice is not that new—active vs. passive voice—but remind us what the tenets are of good writing.
15) I created the 10-tips list below for small and midsize companies because these organizations often don’t have a full-time marketing or communications staffer; blogging is left to an editorially gifted CEO or leader who can clearly express themselves.