Do you love the arrival of fall?

• Scorching temperatures drop.
• Halloween is around the corner (my favorite holiday).
• Trees explode with color.

As a person who walks five to seven miles a day, I welcome autumn. Not only is it better walking weather, but the scenery is so inspiring.

Let’s tap into that feeling. The following are 11 fall-inspired ideas you can test out for your business communication.

Fall-inspired Ideas for Business Communication

Imagine if the seasons never changed. Reminds me of my early days in San Diego. Although I loved the weather, I did miss the fall season with its crisp temperatures and beautiful colors. I know; there is a LOT to be said for San Diego living.

But what happens to business communication that never changes?

• Marketers hit on a communication method that works.
• Then they drive that approach into the ground.
• So, what once was new and interesting becomes old and mundane.

If your business communication needs a shakeup, try taking baby steps. Dip your toe into the pond of alternative forms of communication.

1. Embrace the changing season.
2. Add color to your communication.
3. Be crisp in your writing.

Embrace the changing season.

When I started my business in 2008, my niche did not exactly embrace social media. The industry still has its holdouts.

• But then their markets grew up.
• Younger generations spoke and made purchases in “non-traditional” ways.
• Business communication had to change to appeal to this new customer.

Embrace changing communication methods and breathe life into old and mundane communication.

1. Become a better storyteller.

Storytelling creates business communication that is more relatable. It pulls your audience in, so they want to know what is next. A case study is a good example of storytelling in business communication.

• Done well, case studies share your success through a captivating story.
• But some read like an unadventurous section of an encyclopedia.
• Others are thinly veiled sales pitches.

Picture this instead. (Tip: Use the navigation buttons on the right – not at the bottom – to flip the storybook pages).

Your case study is the storybook for your success story.

• The heroine is your client.
• She has a big problem; one the readers of your story can relate to.
• You share the heroine’s problem, building on its effect on her life.
• The happy ending is how you help your client solve her problem.

If you’d like more information on case studies, download, What you need to know when creating a case study.

When you master the storytelling technique, your business communication transforms into its own season of success.

2. Freshen up your business website.

If you cannot remember the last time you looked at your business website, it has been too long.

I took over two years to update this site. Not because it was so difficult but because I procrastinated so darn long. And now I want to change it again.

Redesigning a site can make a procrastinator out of the best of us. Again, try taking baby steps.

Typeface

• Have you checked out different fonts lately?
• Designers create a continuous stream of new font families.
• Try distinctive styles that are consistent with your brand.

It’s like freshening up your wardrobe. Your customers will notice.

Blog

• A blog presents the perfect platform for showing your personality.
• If you do not have one already, consider adding a business blog.
• If you do have a blog, update old content.

I have been updating posts for over a year (obviously, I procrastinated too long on that, too). Some involve a total rewrite while others are reviving the look with new graphics and downloads.

Client Feedback

Visitors to your site are interested in what others have to say about your business and your products.

• Update your testimonials.
• Create new case studies.
• Interview clients for your blog.

The above three “baby steps” will instantly freshen up an old and abandoned business site.

3. Discover video.

One of my favorite experiences with each fall season is the rediscovery of nature’s beauty. Colors pop with a whole new palette.

Videos offer a new palette for your business communication. Technology blew the doors off video-making.

• It is affordable.
• Formats are simpler than ever.
• And you have multiple platforms to choose from.

Again, start small. And remember the #1 tip for videos.

(I told you Halloween was my favorite holiday).

4. Hold on to the good traditions.

While embracing the changing season, there are good traditions we hold on to – Halloween, Thanksgiving, pumpkin everything.

Not all things old or traditional are bad (I may be a tad biased.) In my humble opinion, we’ve abandoned some traditional forms of communication that we should keep.

Today, we post, tweet, and “Like” our way through communication. We remain hidden behind usernames and avatars. In my corporate days, coworkers emailed me a simple question when sitting right across from me. Drove me nuts.

• Try picking up the phone instead of letting every call go to voicemail.
• Schedule a face-to-face meeting once in a while (when pandemic-possible).
• Or at least Skype or set up a Zoom call.

One positive outcome of COVID-19 (now, there’s an oxymoron) is the reawakening of how much we need human interaction.

5. Mix up your marketing.

In the early days of fall, leaves are a mix of spring/summer green and emerging red and gold. We embrace the change as a sign of the new season.

Embrace changes in how we communicate, but mix in proven traditional methods, like direct mail.

Statistics show direct mail still works. Try mixing up your business communication by sprinkling in traditional forms of marketing.

• Use postcards to announce events
• Include a branded gift with direct mail
• Provide customers with something useful like discounts or helpful information.

Know the difference between junk mail and a pleasant surprise.

One small change infuses life into dying communication strategy.

Add Color

Fall is all about fantastic colors. If you had to describe your business writing campaigns by color, what color would you choose?

• Is your business writing a boring beige?
• Are your statements black and white?
• Is your message too gray to be understood?

Color your business writing in vibrancy.

6. Talk about people – not products.

People are much more fascinating. Wouldn’t you rather read about a person’s challenge than the details of a product?

• What problem did your customer have?
• How did your product/service solve that problem?
• Show how that is relevant to other customers.

Nike ads like its infamous Just Do It campaign speaks to the drive in each of us. Steve Jobs made the complex understandable and the impossible possible. Both tap into the human connection.

7. Color outside the lines.

Think back to your childhood days. Did you use standard colors in your coloring books or was your sky green and your grass blue? How can you recapture your unique expression?

I respect business writing rules. They organize and provide clarity.

But, sometimes you have to bend the rules – you have to color outside the lines.

• Know when to write like you speak.
• And how to balance that with structure.
• Relax and revel in the connection you achieve.

8. Use a kaleidoscope of writing techniques.

Is your writing a grayscale version of communication? Sometimes when I am tired or know a subject too well, I see the color drain out of my writing.

I take a step back and pull out my color palette.

• Try figurative language like similes and metaphors
• Use personification (giving human traits to an object/non-human)
• Exaggerate a point through hyperbole

Need examples?

Paint your message in the color of words.

Be Crisp

I love the crisp hug of a clear fall morning. The kiss of cooler temperatures awakens our senses to each day.

Crisp writing energizes your message and triggers response.

9. Keep it simple.

Your message falls by the wayside with a distracting delivery like the following.

• The PowerPoint with too much text
• And too many ideas crammed on one slide
• Or a video with choppy transitions

Do not let communication tools dull a crisp message. Keep it simple.

10. Keep it clear.

Looking through the lens of a crisp fall day, everything seems clearer. Keep your business communication clear by staying focused on your message.

• Establish the problem or the point of your communication upfront.
• Identify your happy ending.
• Describe how you get there.

Keep your writing as clear and crisp as an autumn morning.

11. Keep it uniquely yours.

No matter how many fall seasons I go through, each is unique. I always find some beautiful scene I had not come across before. Unlike “reality” TV. Say what?

Think about it. How many times have you seen the same idea for a show – over and over again?

• Introduce a bunch of people.
• Show how they plot and backstab all the other players.
• The sleaziest and most conniving win.

Not my idea of entertainment.

So, let’s go back to the idea of beautiful and unique.

• The crisp, exciting feeling of something new is seldom duplicated.
• Although the right twist brings something different.
• Whether the idea is yours alone or a curve on something old – keep business communication uniquely yours.

Allow the unique crispness of you to shine through.

Fall Into Something New

Recently, we welcomed the beginning of fall. Be inspired. Now is the perfect time to try something new in your business communication.

• Embrace changing communication styles.
• Add color to drab communication.
• Be crisp in your writing.

What fall-inspired business communication ideas do you have? Please share them in Comments.

Note: This September 28, 2021 post updates the original that posted on September 23, 2013.

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Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours

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Storybook image credit – Bigstock Photo

Graphics credit – Canva

Flipbook format credit – Designrr