Love grants in a moment what toil can hardly achieve in an age. -Johann von Goethe

If you love someone,  let them know. Originally published in 2007, this post is updated for today. Happy Valentine’s Day!

One of our most successful PR campaigns was written by our client’s patrons. We asked them to write love letters. With the writing prompt: “Why I Love My Library” and red heart-shaped notes, patrons of all ages penned their own love story. Then, they were free to post their note anywhere. Walking into a library lit up with love attracted papers, photographers – and patrons. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day why not write your own love note?

Here’s how. . .

How to Write Testimonials as Love Letters

Whenever I think my experience can help someone make a better decision, learn something new or contract with an industry leader, I often email a quick testimonial, send off a video or step out in front of a video camera to give them a snapshot of my story they can use in their marketing.

Every day you come in contact with someone who can promote your business – for free. All you have to do is tell them a story about your experience with their product or service and they’ll be happy to relay it to others as a testimonial. Remember, it works both ways. When you give a testimonial, you may be asked back to talk about your experience and your results must match your testimonial.

Step One: Short and Sweet Review

All you need to do is write up a short and sweet review. Keep it quick and stick to one main point summarized in a few sentences. Mention your expertise in a quote like this:

“As a __________, I found your suggestion about __________ to be a key piece of information I needed to _____________________.”

Step Two: Record it

Video or audio testimonials leave a longer lasting impression than written words. Offer to record your testimonial or just hand it over.

Step Three: Power Signature

Whenever you send a testimonial, include a power signature. Go beyond your name and include any relevant information that supports your connection to the audience: your company name, appropriate title [for some you may be president, others a speaker or a consultant] and your website. Sending your photo along connects your name with your face. Add a link to your social networks.

Step Four: Send it

Sending the testimonial on your letterhead with a signature is the most formal approach and is the best when your letter will be displayed, or scanned in. Follow up with an email that includes an audio or video attachment. Give them approval to use your testimonial, image and media in their press releases, on their site, at their business and in any of their marketing materials.

Step Five: Take Action

Now that you know how to write and package testimonials, here are a few ways to take action today.

Send a follow up email to a speaker after a presentation summarizing your top takeaways or write a blog post with images.

Look in your inbox and find an ezine you like, choose to respond to an article with a comment and testimonial on how much you enjoy each issue.

Pick out a few products you enjoy using, look up the company’s contact information and let them know how their products make your life better.

Offer to be a spokesperson – either paid or unpaid.

Track the links from online mentions to your site[s] and blog[s] to measure your success.

Your Turn to Comment

Who’s on your love letter list?

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 reaction to the above “quote” is something along the lines of, “No, no, no! You’re wrong, wrong, wrong!”

And, of course, you would be right.

Because Lincoln was not only a great leader, he was a great writer. So instead of beginning his Gettysburg Address with a cold, lifeless number, he opens on a prayerful note with a turn of phrase adapted from the 90th Psalm of the King James Bible: “Four score and seven.”

Clearly, Lincoln knew the difference between the almost right word – and, the RIGHT word.

A distinction famously defined by Mark Twain some 25 years later as…”the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” With that thought in mind, I’m going to offer you a few choice words on word choice to help you get more of the right words into your communications. And, make your writing more effective.

Let’s start by looking at a miscue that appeared in the sports section of my local daily, The Columbus Dispatch. A story by AP reporter Tim Reynolds describes Dick Vitale’s reaction to being voted into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame.

Vitale, writes Reynolds, “admitted he ‘cried like a baby’ upon learning he was induced.”

Now maybe Vitale’s use of the word baby clouded the writer’s thinking. Because induced is so NOT the right word choice is it? (And yes, in all fairness maybe it was simply a typo. Either way, the end result is the same.)
Which leads us to today’s big idea:

For more effective word choice think harder about the words you choose.

For example, while it’s obvious that Mr. Reynolds made the wrong choice, what about the people who penned these lines?
• This is literally the equivalent of Microsoft coming to your house and locking a CD in your car CD player.
• More CIOs are disinterested in Linux
• And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.
• WasteWise has collected the following environmental factoids to help you understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling. (From the web site of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency)

How many of these writers made the right choice?

Actually, that’s a trick question.

Because in each instance the highlighted word is used incorrectly. Yes, you may have read or heard a word used a certain way – even in a prestigious publication, by a noted expert or on a federal government agency web site or by the leader of the free world. But that doesn’t mean the word was used correctly.

As to why the above words are – in Mark Twain’s manner of speaking, lightning bugs – I’ll go over one of them: factoid.

According to Webster’s a factoid is -
“something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.”

Therefore WasteWise is actually telling us they have fictitious or unsubstantiated information to help us “understand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling.” The writer could have prevented this mistake with a little more thought and a quick trip to an online dictionary. That’s what I trust you’ll do if it’s unclear to you why the other examples are incorrect.

Now for a couple of specific word choice tips:

1. Choose small, simple words
The Gettysburg Address is 271 words long. Two hundred and twenty of them, 81%, are just one syllable. My advice? For more effective word choice think like Lincoln. Think small:
Utilize Use
Peruse Read
Ascertain Find out

Now am I advising you to never use big words? No, of course not. But in most cases small words will serve your purposes better.

And here’s why:
“The more simply and plainly an idea is presented, the more understandable it is – and therefore the more credible it will be.” Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear – By Dr. Frank Luntz

My second word choice tip is this:
2. Use mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words
Strunk and White in their classic book, The Elements of Style, put it this way:
“Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs….It is nouns and verbs that give to good writing its toughness and character.”

As to the active voice, legendary copywriter Herschell Gordon Lewis lays down the law in his “Active/Passive Rule.” “Unless you specifically want to avoid reader involvement in your message, always write in the active voice.”

For instance:
Instead of writing . . . Once the button has been clicked, the order is generated immediately and an e-mail confirmation will be sent automatically to you.
Write. .
When you click the button, we immediately generate your order and automatically send you an e-mail confirmation.

Notice the difference the active voice makes?

Notice also how the active voice makes the writing more “you-centric.” Simply put, active verbs keep your reader involved and improve credibility and response rates.

For example, I seldom use the word “allows” because it’s a passive, “permission granting” type of word. I prefer enables or makes it possible. Unlike “allows,” these words communicate action and empowerment.

For example:
Instead of writing . . . Study Software allows you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps….
Write . . .
Study Software enables you to learn faster by organizing exam notes as concept maps….

Words are powerful tools.

And regardless of who you are – Bill Gates or Bill Bailey – you have the same access to these powerful tools as anybody else. Words, properly used, can help you grow your business exponentially. Conversely, used without proper thought and skill, words are about as helpful to you as, well, lightning bugs.

So, to greatly improve your odds of catching lightning on a page (or a screen) and gaining your desired response, remember today’s big idea and two tips:
For more effective word choice, think harder about the words you choose.
1. Choose small, simple words, and
2. Choose mainly nouns and verbs and active-voice words.
Keep the above idea and tips in mind when you write and while your words might not make history, they will be duly noted, better remembered – and most importantly, more effective.

Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist, heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm based in Dublin, Ohio. For more information visit http://www.positiveresponse.com. Contact Ernie directly at ENicastro@positiveresponse.com or by phone at 614.747.2256.

Recommendations for additional reading:
The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, By Ronald C. White Jr.
Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, By Dr. Frank Luntz
On the Art of Writing Copy, Third Edition, by Herschell Gordon Lewis
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White

Your Turn: What recommendations do you have for toning writing?

Image: Mark Twain from http://free-stock-photos.com

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 to take a content relevancy test that will help you polish your content and make it more appealing, effective and attractive.

Is Your Content Full of Junk or Jewels?

Take the Content Relevancy Test [CRT] and Find Out

To request permission to reproduce or republish this article, contact connect AT corywestmedia DOT com.

Instructions: Read through the CRT. Print out. Read again. Jot down actions to take to make your content more relevant. Take action. Test results. Refine approach with every post.

You Content is Related to the Outfit – how?

Being related to someone or something conveys a connection that goes beyond temporary interactions. Who are you in a relationship with? List new, building, mature along with healthy, in need of healing and on the way out. Consider all avenues: client, computer, family, social, spiritual, etc. You’re starting to build your ideal reader/client profile.

Experiential – process?

What happens in your relationship? Do you learn, teach, mentor, report, commentate, advise, give? Every action you take produces some kind of interaction. Making it mutually beneficial increases the likelihood that you’ll both benefit and that the relationship will continue to grow.

Life Application – when it happens

Where did you meet? How often do you get together? What do you expect to happen when someone gets your message or hears from you? Setting intentions to shape the relationship and follow a long-term vision helps you both stay committed. Continually updating your contacts, readers or clients with news and ideas keeps the relationship fresh and vibrant.

Education – help them understand

Not everybody gets what you do right away. Confirming understanding is a thoughtful step, if you can do it without being condescending. Often the most uncertain time is at the beginning of a relationship. Make your connections feel comfortable by offering levels of information. Don’t be surprised if beginners turn out to be your biggest audience.

Voyage – tell stories that give them a passport

Case studies [solution, approach, result] walk your reader through how the relationship will work. If they can see themselves in the story, they’ll be more likely to relate to working with you. Come up with a half dozen or so of your best results stories that each portray a different angle of your expertise. Then, get an audio or video [best] testimonial to use on your site or blog. If you have a process, map it out for them.

Alignment – veering back from being off-topic

Sometimes you want to comment on something that’s seemingly completely irrelevant. Start out with the story and twist it back to tie into your topic. Build a frame you can overlay into any subject and you’ll convert interest from hot topics over to your message.

Nuances – how you’re different

Everyone has a thumbprint, now make a brand print that sets your content apart. And, stick to it. Writing in the same voice every time keeps your readers engaged and comfortable. When you change tone or nuances, you’ll confuse them and lose them. Develop a style that’s comfortable for you – because it is you. Don’t try to be someone else. Admitting your failures humanizes your content and your relationships.

Convince – persuade with passion

Being passionate about what you write comes through. If you’re faking it, your readers will know. Rather than persuade them, you’ll reroute their interests elsewhere. Remember English 101? Start with a thesis statement and then write three paragraphs that support your argument. Outline what you’ll write about and then fill in the blanks. One more thing – write your headline first. Crunch the feel of the content down into seven words or less and then get going.

Yellow – glow in the relationship

After you pass the relevancy test, stay focused and keep glowing. Accept that some readers will leave. Reward those that stay with a steady stream of relevant content – from you and from them. Communication is [at least] a two way channel. Ask them what they want and they’ll tell you what to write.

What makes content sparkle for you?

Image credit: Barbara Rozgonyi for www.thesociallens.com from the lighting series

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, a best seller or their son or daughter’s English paper.

Not my stuff.

Yes, I’m an experienced writer.

Who cares about that if the people who get the material have to slough through it?

You know they won’t. They’ll move on to something else. Like videos or Facebook.

So, I went back to the keyboard. I reread the piece over and over again.

Smoothed transitions, sliced sentences, substituted words and. . . . you’ll have to read the rest of the post to find out what happened.

Because I compose my blog posts in the WordPress interface, I’m not subject to the grammar underlines I get in Word. While this is liberating, it automatically downgrades not just my grade, but my overall writing score – or one would think.

My English teachers would be in shock. OR maybe not, if they saw the test results.

How about you? Do you ever grade your writing?

Tools to Grade Your Writing

When I teach my Enlivened Writing Workshop we talk about tools to tighten, tone and tune up text.

Here are a few tools I used today to calibrate readability.

Readability scores

According to the site, this code was originally released on AddedBytes.com (formerly ILoveJackDaniels.com) in July 2004.

SMOG Simple Measure of Gobbledygook

SMOG was published in 1969 BC [Before Computers] so I made calculating a text’s readability easy by offering an approximate formula — count the words of 3 or more syllables in 3 10-sentence samples, estimate the count’s square root, and add 3, SMOG source

Readability of a Website
Calculate a website’s readability on several scores by entering the URL. For comparison purposes, the site lists this chart.

Fog Index Resources
6 TV guides, The Bible, Mark Twain
8 Reader’s Digest
8 – 10 Most popular novels
10 Time, Newsweek
11 Wall Street Journal
14 The Times, The Guardian
15 – 20 Academic papers
Over 20 Only government sites can get away with this, because you can’t ignore them.
Over 30 The government is covering something up.
Philip Chalmers of Benefit from IT provided the typical Fog Index scores, to help ascertain the readability of documents.

Isn’t it interesting how the Bible, TV Guide and Mark Twain all rank at a lower level?

Back to the scores on the writing project . . .

My first draft came in at 13.5, the second at 11.5 and the last at 9.5 – right in line with most popular novels.

For better or worse, WIred PR Works comes in at 11.84. I’m okay with being at the same level as The Wall Street Journal [according to another list], but I know I don’t write quite that well – especially when the grammar checker is off.

How about you? What grade is your writing in?

Image credit: Thanks to Shutterstock.com for providing images in exchange for credit, which I am happy to give.