“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Mark Twain
From executive communications to your employees’ emails, the number one problem is they’re too long. And business emails that are too long are at best, a waste of time because no one will read them, and at worst, risky if people only skim or read a portion.
Mark Twain got it right when he recognized that composing short, easy-to-read text takes time. Few business owners and fewer employees think they have the time to craft well-written messages to their organizations and customers. But there are a few quick easy actions you can take to shorten and improve business communications.
Use contractions to improve readability.
It may not seem like a big difference, but shortening I am and you are to I’m and you’re makes your email easier to read and visibly shorter.
Don’t use verbs as nouns.
Avoid sentences like, “We conducted an analysis of the situation.” Instead, write, “We analyzed the situation.”
Write in the active voice.
Emulate your favorite sports commentator. Too often, business emails are written in the passive voice and sound like this, “The form was received by the deadline, the service was added to the client’s account, and the sales rep received the commission.” If we’re rewriting this statement as a sports commentator would, we’d describe action on the field like this: “He threw the ball. The fans jumped to their feet. The clock ticked down its final seconds. And the receiver caught the pass in the end zone.” The player comes before the action. So using business language, we’d write, “The client submitted the form before the deadline. Customer service added the service to the client’s account. And the sales rep earned the commission.”
According to a recent Forbes article, “Emails that take about two minutes to read, or roughly 400–500 words, yield the highest readership.” There are many benefits to taking the time to write shorter communications. People will read them. But more importantly, people will understand them. The information you pass to the receiver is received and understood. It’s simple, efficient and good business.
With fewer opportunities for missed communication or miscommunication in your business emails, there’s less risk and fewer fumbles. And the crowd goes wild!
Can you afford the time to write shorter communications to ensure your employees and customers read what you send them? For more email tips, get my Nine Tips to Make Your Emails Impossible to Ignore. Or contact me for communication coaching or training.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has taught me a thing or two about writing. And that’s saying a lot. Whether you’re marketing your products or business online, emailing customers, blogging, or posting on social media to demonstrate your expertise, there are SEO lessons you can apply to help people engage with your content.
In the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character hears a mysterious voice say, “If you build it, he will come.” While the movie is about baseball and relationships and not about SEO or writing, here’s the connection. Many people assume that if they write something people will read it—whether it’s an email, a post on social media, or a piece of website content.
In reality, people don’t read anymore. They skim. They’re super selective in what slows their scroll. That is even if they see your content at all. That’s where SEO comes in.
Don’t be fooled by the technical term. Essentially, SEO is the science behind getting people to engage with your content. And there are lessons to be learned whether you’re writing an email to a project team to get updates or web copy to sell a product or a service.
Write short sentences.
The first thing I’ve learned is that shorter sentences boost your SEO and readability scores.
People no longer have the time to read long sentences—even great ones. Just because you know (or think you know) the rules of grammar doesn’t mean every sentence you write should be a compound sentence. I once wrote content for a sales audience. I passed the near-final draft along to the sales leader I’d written it for, expecting minimal feedback. He told me there was a run-on sentence that I needed to address. I scoured the text looking for it. I realized that he was simply referring to a long compound sentence. I broke the sentence into two shorter sentences, and suddenly he was happy.
SEO is not unlike that sales guy. Break any long sentences up into shorter sentences, and watch your readability scores go up. And if your readability scores go up, so will the time people spend reading your content. Shorter sentences lead to longer engagement with your content. This is a lesson that can apply to your emails, executive summaries, and text messages too. An added benefit is you’ll be far less likely to make a typo if you keep it concise.
Adjust Your Content to Your Audience.
The second thing I learned from writing SEO content is that the lingo you use within your business may not give you the best search engine rankings for external content. For instance, I worked for a law firm where we referred to our employers as attorneys. However, we had better SEO results when we referred to them as lawyers. Why? Because people outside the legal industry are more likely to search for a “Corporate lawyer” than a “Corporate attorney.” Consider your audience when writing. Answer questions they would ask. Use words they would use.
Throw Your Pride of Authorship Out the Window.
It takes a humble person to write good SEO content. Whether you’re writing directly into an application like WordPress with Yoast for instant SEO feedback or writing in Word and transferring content over to the web, don’t get too attached to your original wording. You may need to reorder paragraphs to introduce keywords earlier. As mentioned previously, you may need to shorten sentences. You’ll need to write in the active voice. (That’s subject before verb for those of you looking to impress friends at dinner.) In short, be prepared to make changes to your precious final draft.
And don’t forget to proofread again after you’ve made any changes! I’ve been using Grammarly lately, and it’s been incredibly useful in catching errors and helping me identify problem sentences before anyone else sees my work. It’s free and convenient, and, it’ll help you avoid embarrassing errors. I highly recommend it especially to anyone who is prone to errors or lacks confidence in his writing.
Don’t Rush SEO.
It’s hard to get noticed out there in the web world. That is unless you have a precocious child, cute dog or a cat with attitude. You may have written a great piece of content, but if you cut corners with SEO, it’ll take longer to get the attention you’re looking for with your post. Give SEO the time and attention it deserves. Or if you have people who handle SEO for you, give them the time they need to take a thoughtful approach to SEO. They’ll need to research relevant keywords on search engines and social media. They made need to add headlines and subheadings to your content. They’ll add and test external links to additional content. This all takes time. But it’ll pay off in the end.
SEO has taught me a lot about writing. The most important lesson is if no one reads your great content, you’re no further along in your efforts than you were before all that writing. Use every tool you can to get the engagement you need to propel yourself and your business forward. If you SEO it, they will read it.
This article explains what working with a coach is like and how working with a coach is different than a mentor.
Synopsis: Nothing has taught me more about achieving goals than coaching others to achieve theirs. In this post, I’ll share the top six things you need to know about working with a coach.
Working with a coach is a different dynamic than the one you might have with a boss or mentor even though it may seem similar in concept.
#6. You don’t have to know your goal to work with a coach.
You may not know exactly what your ultimate goal is. And thankfully, knowing your goal isn’t required to start working with a coach. Maybe you just know something needs to change in your career or your personal life. You and your coach will discuss what isn’t working and why you feel that change is needed. Together, you can develop a plan from that conversation. And through that plan, your goal will be a natural outcome. It’s reverse engineering. Your coach will make sure it’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. And that’s just SMART.
#5. You’re being too hard on yourself.
When we set a goal, we tend to give ourselves credit for only the big sweeping actions we take that leapfrog us toward our goals. If we haven’t moved the needle significantly, we feel we haven’t made any progress. That’s just not the case. The reason we don’t hammer down on the gas pedal when a streetlight turns green is it’s uncomfortable for us, our passengers, and even the drivers around us. If you don’t feel immediate change and whiplash when you’ve started working toward a goal, that’s okay. A coach will be able to point out how each action you’ve taken is progress, even if it’s just changing the rudder of your attitude from “I have so far to go” to “I’m doing it.” That subtle shift in thought will take you far. And that leads me to my next coaching lesson.
#4. Great things are accomplished one small step at a time.
Everything doesn’t have to change all at once, and the best and most lasting changes don’t happen immediately. There are dozens if not hundreds of tiny actions that move us closer to accomplishing our goals. Keep a list of every action you need to take that gets you closer to your goal. And the smaller the steps you break those actions down into, the better. Did you write a list of three contacts to network with? Check. Did you contact one person on the list? Check. Did you set an appointment to talk to someone? Check. It all adds up. And every time you review your list to check off an item, you’ll see all of those actions accomplished, giving you the momentum to keep going.
#3. Lists are the best tool you can use.
There was a craze over the past couple of years around bullet journaling. There are countless tools, journals and planners out there developed by motivational coaches for goal setting and tracking. I’ve probably tried at least half a dozen or so myself. What I’ve learned is you don’t need some fancy tracker, journal or planner. In fact, the easier you make the tracking, the more likely you are to do it. The important thing is to keep that list! See #2 again if you need a reminder about why. Your coach likely will have a few trackers and lists they’ll ask you to use. It doesn’t matter whether it’s handwritten on a note pad, typed into a document, tracked in an app on your phone, or charted and forecast using pivot tables in Excel. (I’m kidding about Excel.) The point is: just make sure you’re continually reviewing your list to add new items and check off completed items. One action often leads to another action. For instance, if you’re networking and you’ve added a name to your list, you may also want to review that person’s LinkedIn profile prior to your meeting or outreach. This is where reviewing your list is key.
#2. You’re hiring a coach to keep you accountable to yourself.
It’s very easy to let life, your career, your family, and/or your hobbies crowd out your goals. You hire a coach to help you stay accountable. You’ll meet regularly in person or by phone to check in and discuss your progress. Things may come up from time to time that slow you down, but don’t let that be a reason to put off your coaching. That’ll only set you back further. As a coach to several busy professionals, I never mind when appointments have to be rescheduled even more than once. And I’m also happy to use our meeting time to review the list, brainstorm additional actions, and discuss what may be getting in the way. Just because you don’t feel ready for a coaching appointment, doesn’t mean you should cancel. After all, you hired your coach to keep you accountable and get you back on track.
#1. Your coach plays a different role than your boss or mentor.
Working with a coach is a different dynamic than the one you might have with a boss or mentor. Although a great boss can exhibit qualities of all three, a manager has to balance your needs with the needs of the team and company. When those conflict, the company is the priority. What’s good for you might not be good for business. A mentor is more similar to a coach than a boss. But, generally, you select your own mentors. A mentor may be someone who’s already accomplished what you’d like to accomplish or someone you simply admire. A mentor shares her experience with you and may even introduce you to others who can help you in your career. She may help you gain additional experience or achieve a promotion. A coach has specific training in active listening to help you achieve your goals and a variety of tools to help you. A coach will assess the steps it’ll take and give you specific tools to move you forward and track your progress. If accountability, consistent momentum, and specific tools are what you’re looking for, then working with a coach may be the best way to reach your goals. But nothing precludes you from working with all three! In fact, I recommend all three, and a coach can help you make the most of each.
Let me know if you’d like to read more posts about coaching by leaving a comment!
