Observed

If you write for a living (or think you might want to try), do yourself a favor.  Watch this movie:

What the 50 screenwriters in Tales from the Script (2009) tell me is important for any writer, especially one with a client.  However you define that.

Here are four of the many lessons they offer:

1. Get used to chaos. No matter how sincere the time line and approval commitments, life has a way of showing up.  Things slide,  and before you know it, you’re part of a train wreck.
2. Develop a thick skin. There’s never any way to predict how your work will be received.  Clients are human, and it’s impossible to know who might have a bad day or when.  Plus, people can disagree.  Your take on something might not be their take on something.  Even if it’s personal, don’t take it personally.
3. Great writing alone isn’t good enough. Writing for hire is a team sport.  If you’re not good with people, find something else to do.
4. Don’t quit. It can be discouraging to go through draft after draft after draft…even when you’re getting paid to do it.  Nothing ever gets created, however, without the risk of failure.  Be brave.

The sooner you accept the legitimacy of these things, the happier and more serene your writing life will seem.

When I build a bio page for an attorney, I remind them that getting picked is an emotional process, at least in part. That’s why it’s important to let visitors to your page know they’re dealing with someone who’s more than a list of impeccable credentials.

Carl Aveni, a litigator based in Columbus, Ohio, agrees. Take a look at this recent clip:

Making your bio like a personal story will also make it more readable and set you apart.

PS:  Thanks to Larry Bodine for sharing this clip with me.  Plus, there’s a related post at http://doug-stern.com/blog/2010/11/19/people-buy-from-people/.

George H.W. Bush understood the importance of superficial impressions. In 1988, he used this picture of a hapless Michael Dukakis to win the presidential election. Bush's fabled campaign ads featuring escaped felon and murderer "Willie Horton" drove the final nail in his opponent's coffin.

We’re hard-wired to judge others.  And situations.  Some of us (e.g., parents of young children) seem to acquire this urge under the right circumstances.

Judging others factors into how much we trust and feel safe.  This is one reason why chemistry and even small, tangible details seem to figure into the hiring choices clients make and whether they remain satisfied with a vendor’s performance.

So, too, it seems when picking presidential candidates.  A recent story in The New York Times vetted several Republican favorites with an eye toward how they present the qualities it takes to win as opposed to govern. (more…)

Dans ses écrits, un sàge Italien Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. Or, "In his writings, a wise Italian says that the best is the enemy of the good."

Seth reminded me this morning of Voltaire’s awesome aphorism:

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Blasted perfectionism!

Here’s the second in a series of practical how-to writing clips from Doug.  It’s a companion to a blog post.

Here's an example what happens when I remember that people buy from people. Personalized content is engaging content. So are images that help convey a sense that there's another person at the other end. CLICK ON THIS IMAGE FOR A BETTER LOOK.

When clients ask me to write or edit their business development and marketing materials, one of my objectives is to produce content that engages the reader.  After all, what’s the use of offering high-quality content if it’s not getting read? (more…)

Here’s a brief clip with five questions to help you weigh the relative benefits of analog and digital marketing communications. It’s a companion to an article published by my editorial home, MarketingProfs.com — http://xrl.us/BeforeSend.

People in Louisville have been making and shipping things since long before Henry Ford started making trucks, tractors and cars in my hometown early last century. Maybe shipping is in my blood.

Seth shared a great post this morning about his year and what he shipped in 2010.  Here’s my baker’s dozen:

1. Web content for Connecticut legal boutique
2. Web content for Boston law firm
3. Web content for Michigan law firm
4. Web content for California law firm
5. Web content for New Hampshire trust managers (more…)

Q. You mentioned you’re doing less e-mail.

LBJ was a master at face-to-face persuasion. Rhode Island’s Senator Theodore Green was, in this case, the mastered. Johnson would probably prefer to cut off one of his own fingers than to send an e-mail.

A. I think e-mail is very often disruptive in corporate cultures. You sit next to people and send e-mail to each other instead of walking over or making a call or just trying to look for the personal interaction. I use e-mail more and more as text messaging — just very, very short messages. It’s very efficient, but I am convinced that e-mail does not replace presence. Also, I never read cc e-mails.

From “Corner Office,” Aug. 29, 2010, in The New York Times, an interview with Kasper Rorsted, the chief executive of Henkel, the consumer and industrial products company based in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Seth’s blog this morning offered another take on the notion of Demand Trigger.  Interesting.