Today’s guest post comes from Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist who heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm based in Dublin, Ohio. We’re members of the same mastermind group. When I asked if anyone wanted to be a guest author, I was delighted to hear Ernest say “Yes!”

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice
“Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation….”
The Gettysburg Address

Chances are your …

Confession: I love jewelry that sparkles – preferably a lot. To make stones sparkle, they have to be cut to catch light. To be attractive, they need to be shaped. To be displayed, they have to be set. Stones come in many colors, sizes, cuts and shapes. But, they all start out as a rough piece of rock.

Content is the same way: rough at first, then shaped, cut, colored, polished and set. Here’s an update on an article about how …

I’m working on a writing project. This one needs to be more mainstream. So, I tested it out for grade level and readability.

While it’s cool to know that I wrote it at the same level that New York Times readers read: 11.5, it’s not so cool that I’m writing for high brow audiences.

Because . . . not everybody’s that intellectual.

And, even if they like a good read, they want that that experience to happen while reading The New York Times, …