Longbow Business Solutions - Freelance writer, copywriter, blogger. Always on target.

5 easy steps: How to speak effectively

Rita Marshall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:53:49 +0000

image by CarbonNYC Writing can be an intimidating skill to learn, but at least you can go back and edit your words if they’re not right. Anyone who’s ever put a foot in his or her mouth (that would be all of us) knows that speaking can be an even bigger minefield. Here are five [...]

Blackberry PIN use has city administration on hot seat

Rita Marshall — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:14:33 +0000

image by arrayexception Here’s one for the “Is Office Email Dead?” file. The Ottawa Citizen recently discovered that senior city staff are using Blackberry PIN messages to communicate with each other instead of email. The city has a policy on “responsible computing”, the Citizen reports: “The rules warn that outside email systems, like Gmail or [...]

There’s only one tip on body language and business

Rita Marshall — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:49:46 +0000

image by Banjo Brown Globe and Mail commenters recently savaged “Ten simple and powerful body language tips for 2012“, originally a Forbes.com article. The article’s suggestions included: - hold “high- power” poses (such as feet up on a desk with your hands behind your head or standing with arms and legs spread apart) to stimulate [...]

SOPA, PIPA and the Battle of the Corporations

Rita Marshall — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:34:02 +0000

photo credit: ikrichter The fight over SOPA/PIPA is an epic battle between freedom-loving, open-source netizens and the giant, evil corporations who want to crush all that is good. Right, right? Not really. I am not a supporter of SOPA and PIPA. Like most opponents of the bills, I do agree with fighting online piracy, and [...]

3 Reasons Why Business Jargon Might Be Necessary

Rita Marshall — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:50:52 +0000

When writing about Careerbuilder’s 17 Most Odious Buzzwords, I realized that there were a few that I didn’t mind at all. I thought “next steps” was pretty simple, “elevator pitch” rather poetic and “proactive” is one of those words which is too commonly used to be banished. In fact, there are several reasons why jargon [...]

Need QR Code ideas? Here are three great QRC campaigns

Rita Marshall — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:31:17 +0000

2012 is supposed to be the year of the QR code, but not everyone has figured out how to make their QRC provide value to customers. Looking for ideas? Here are three great and innovative ways companies have made their QR codes stand out. Tesco’s South Korea subway campaign What makes it great: Convenience. Mind-blowing [...]

Top 17 awful business buzzwords and their alternatives

Rita Marshall — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:48:31 +0000

In December, CareerBuilder.com released the 17 most odious business buzzwords as decided by a survey of 5,300 people. Here’s the list in descending order of offensiveness, along with their definitions and what someone thinking outside the box might say instead. Also check out which words I actually don’t mind. I make my case for which [...]

Crisis, Communications and a Blue Christmas

Rita Marshall — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:32:02 +0000

Oh, dear. Christmas may be partly to blame for the difficulties Twitter and global intelligence company Stratfor currently find themselves in. Twitter is facing (and avoiding) questions over a briefly-verified Twitter account for Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendi Deng-Murdoch. The account turned out to be a spoof set up over the Christmas holidays — some suggest [...]

How Businesses (& Customers) Will Communicate in 2012?

Rita Marshall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:22:20 +0000

Now in the shiny new year, businesses are (hopefully) thinking about where their communications focus should be in 2012. Here are some of the broad trends we’ll likely see along with some resources to help you get up to speed. Mobile Expect to see more QR codes as those little black and white boxes in [...]

5 Easy Steps: How to Write a Thank You Card

Rita Marshall — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:00:09 +0000

Many people find writing thank you cards as enjoyable as having a tooth pulled, but here are five easy steps to writing a great thank you card: 1. It Is Never Too Late A common way to deal with thank you cards is to procrastinate until weeks, or months, have passed. At this point you [...]