What once defined family has taken on a new form.
- Today, Ozzie and Harriet would probably be divorced
- The Beav is all grown up and heading toward Medicare eligibility
- And Eight is Enough refers to Gigabytes of RAM
Your business writing has taken a new form, too.
Meet its extended family.
The Good Old Days
Like the patriarch of the family, some long for the good old days of business writing.
- Business writing was formal
- Businesses frowned on a too casual style
Then the youngsters came in and rolled right over Grandpa’s way of doing things.
The rallying cry became –
Write like you talk
Thus began a new form of business writing.
The Grown-up Diary
The stacks of personal diaries and journals of yesterday became the online diary or weblog.
Before you knew it, weblogs became blogs and a new universe called the blogosphere emerged.
Blogs expanded from personal musings to a business marketing strategy.
- 2010 State of the Blogosphere – 21 percent of bloggers are self-employed and have a business blog
- 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report – 69 percent of marketers want to learn more about blogging
- Blogs rank in the top four social media tools used by marketers (from the same report)
Yesterday’s customers are today’s blog community.
Crazy Talk
For generations, parents and grandparents complain about the crazy language of the younger generation.
Business writing of old would never dream of using the latest vernacular in its copy.
Today, that vernacular is the copy.
- 140-character tweets
- Fan pages
- Video marketing
- Posts, comments, and online networking
Customers view businesses that don’t sign on as the black sheep of the family.
Lessons Learned
A funny thing happens as you grow older.
- Mom and Dad seem smarter
- Grandpa’s past is fascinating
- You treasure the memories
The same is true for business writing.
- Formal writing still has its place
- The masters of old have plenty to teach
- You treasure the foundation of good grammar and style
The happiest families embrace and respect young and old.
After all, it’s family, right?
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Idea #9 Family Photo
In a recent post, 10 business blog ideas were sitting right in front of my face. I looked at 10 items sitting on my desk and used them for blog post ideas.
To demonstrate that I practice what I preach I decided to do a 10-part series, using each one of the 10 main ideas. This post is #9 in the 10-part series.
The 9th item from my desk was a family photo.
- How about you?
- Do you mix old school business writing with the new?
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