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

Time for a fresh coat? When to update your social media profiles

Rita Marshall — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:41:22 +0000

image by matt hutchinson You probably update your Facebook or Twitter account on a daily basis, but when’s the last time you looked at your profile description on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media networks? As I prepare to take a year-long assignment, I’m also preparing to change my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn information [...]

What you need for a speech or presentation

Rita Marshall — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:25:46 +0000

image by Kheel Center, Cornell University So you’ve just been asked to give a presentation or make a speech. You don’t expect to get the reaction a presidential candidate does, but you certainly don’t want to end up sounding like Every Presentation Ever. Start preparing for your moment on stage by gathering these resources for [...]

Where technology meets etiquette: Siri edition

Rita Marshall — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:24:04 +0000

image by Planetc1 From the New York Times comes a look at this dilemma: texting saved us from obnoxious cell phone conversations (of course texting has its own etiquette limitations, as you’ll know if you’ve ever seen someone text their way throughout a meeting or presentation).* But now that technology is saving us from typing [...]

Is it time to get rid of internal email?

Rita Marshall — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:02:14 +0000

image by Ian Lamont The decision by French IT company ATOS to get rid of internal email by 2014 has made some workplaces look at their own overflowing inboxes and think, “maybe there IS a more efficient way.” An article on Fresh Business Thinking talks about the most likely successor to office email, Instant Messaging: [...]

Funniest video ever: “Every Presentation Ever”

Rita Marshall — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:54:54 +0000

I love this merciless re-enactment of yes, every presentation ever. (The video is a brilliant viral promotion for the book “Habitudes for Communicators” a project of non-profit organization Growing Leaders) Go ahead and watch the video and you’ll have many of your own memories to share. (In my experience, the only thing missing is a [...]

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 [...]