All’s fair in love and entrepreneurship. Marketing wisdom and observations from the world of outsourced marketing communications.

There are great writers everywhere these days. I won’t try to imitate any of them.

Some are more eloquent than I, and some are more brief. Yet the things I write about seem to strike a chord with people. . .big or small, old or young. I like to think it’s because I write like I speak. . .loosely. . .and hopefully, with a bit of a story to rouse one’s curiosity. Sometimes I use a few too many commas despite my status as a professional freelance writer and editor. But who cares. I like ‘em, and again they work with the way I pace things. . .kinda’ like those few dots right there. Yup. I like ellipses too. My grammar teachers would no doubt string me up if they knew where to find me.

But you know what? The entire reason we as humans write is to share ideas with other people via the written word. Only so much can be said and understood in one conversation, and only so much read in one sitting. Putting our ideas to paper allows our intended audience to re-visit and re-learn what has already been stated, and if you want that corporate magazine, company newsletter, white paper, or simple note to a loved one to actually be read, you’d better make it read well. The way to accomplish this simple feat is to write simply.

Last week I volunteered at the Chicago World Usability Day event held at the downtown office of Blue Cross Blue Shield here in the city. It was an event that, quite frankly, I somewhat stumbled upon while on-line searching for concepts and ideas related to my career as a technical writer. I write and edit all sorts of material, actually, but one of my greater joys has always been editing the work of others so as to help them make their message more clear. It is technical writing nirvana for me, really.

World Usability Day was an enlightening event for me because until a few weeks prior to it taking place, I never even knew such a field existed! My first discovery of this “new” creature was through the US government’s usability website where I learned that usability is, quite succinctly, the means by which designers aim to make the things we use and interact with on a daily basis more useful, usable and to quote Don Norman who was the keynoter of the event, more “friendly”. The folks at Motorola, Whirlpool, GE and a host of other companies are working feverishly to ensure the stuff we use in our lives is indeed useful. As writers, we should always aim for the same.

When I was first learning to write critically as a history major in college, I was always instructed to assume nothing when writing. No matter how educated my professors were on the subject matter I was investigating, I was to write my papers as if they knew nothing at all about the topic at hand. It makes sense, of course, and this single lesson is critical to having your work understood. A lack of attention to this principle is often the reason why technical communication in the form of manuals, reports and proposals typically fail to educate their intended audience. As a result, if your firm is spending money on material no one reads or understands, it is spending away its profits on filing cabinet and trash can fodder. There is a reason why our parents never learned how to program the VCR and now their cell phones, and a lot of it can be attributed to those joyful how-to manuals which accompanied those shiny new electronic devices. So if we’re not writing well and using language we can all understand, then fundamentally, we’re not communicating.

So take a step forward and be a change leader. Work on those corporate and technical communications pieces and grab your audience by the short-hairs. Use great ledes, great graphic artists and great writers. After all, you’re competing for your readers eyeballs as much as your own marketing department is, so let’s make it count!

Wouldn’t it be great if after all the hard work you put into your corporate magazine or corporate history piece, your firm’s employees actually read it?

Cool link: The folks at Ragan Communications are the thought leaders in this arena. Check out their work!

Cheers,
Doc Kane, Roscommon
Chicago, November 2006

Doc Kane is the president of Roscommon, a Chicago-based marketing communications firm that helps clients outsource their writing needs. Essentially, if it’s got words, Roscommon can help.   His firm has the privilege of writing for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Abbott Labs and Aon Corporation, as well as a good number of small businesses and experts making a lot of noise in their own backyards.  Doc has also been heavily involved in Internet marketing since 1994, and continues to help small businesses market themselves online via web content and SEO.  You can visit Roscommon online at: www.roscommon.com

This past week I rented Terrence Malick’s “The New World”. His lush portrayal of Virginia in all its boundless beauty left me awestruck at times, and I must say his eye for dramatic scenery is impressive. The story, for those who have not seen the film, is about the legendary Pocahontas and the rather impactful life she led over 400 years ago. Of course there are parallel stories and other characters, namely John Smith and John Rolfe, but who really remembers their names after 4 centuries? Historians, perhaps. . .but that’s about it, really.

So let’s consider that for a moment. The spread of time, I mean.

. . .four hundred years.

Pocahontas was a teen-aged girl who had interactions with a group of explorers and settlers from England long before the majority of events that preoccupy most of us today were ever recorded, and yet we’re still talking about her in 2006! Mention her name to anyone above the age of five and they can probably at least identify her.

So that got me thinking about business and corporate permanence. And more precisely, at what point does one’s story stick? There are countless examples of individuals and companies whose legacy just does not stand the test of time, so what causes those others we do remember to remain a fixture in our minds? I can’t tell you how many buildings and streets are named after individuals who were quite well known in their time and for some years after, but have since been lost to the ether. Why? And how can you ensure your legacy and that of your company outlives you and your grandchildren’s children? Of course, the answer is yours to contemplate, but as a corporate historian myself, I’ll give you a few ideas as to how you can get started. Check out a few of these links to place yourself on the right path toward immortality.

Maintaining great corporate records is the role of any serious corporate historian. But what do you do when the cubic feet of archival documents you possess about your company’s history outweigh the building where your office is located? Check out the History Factory and be AMAZED! Also, History Associates runs a tight ship for corporate histories.

The Committee To Encourage Corporate Philanthropy exists to drive corporations to stretch the bounds of the current definition of corporate responsibility. I had the pleasure to hear Miles D. White of Abbott Labs address an audience at the Executive’s Club of Chicago on this very topic, and it was right on, and quite insightful. After all, helping out our friends is a good thing, and as we experienced with Hurricane Katrina, businesses are often in a better place to do it than our governments. Hey, do like Pocahontas and be nice. It seems to create a lasting memory!

Of course, the first step to being remembered, is to start writing. Below I have included a few links to companies who have done a relatively good job of documenting their company history on-line How are you doing? Here are their sites:

Pfizer

Coke (they even have a museum!)

Interestingly enough, Google already has begun the task of documenting their corporate history!

We do corporate histories as well so feel free to reach out if you would like a documented history of your company you can be proud to pass on to your shareholders, employees, and grandchildren. Reach us at www.roscommon.com

Cheers,
Doc Kane, Roscommon

Doc Kane is the president of Roscommon, a Chicago-based marketing communications firm that helps clients outsource their writing needs. Essentially, if it’s got words, Roscommon can help.   His firm has the privilege of writing for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Abbott Labs and Aon Corporation, as well as a good number of small businesses and experts making a lot of noise in their own backyards.  Doc has also been heavily involved in Internet marketing since 1994, and continues to help small businesses market themselves online via web content and SEO.  You can visit Roscommon online at: www.roscommon.com