Nora Firestone
  • Home
  • Books
    • Ten Thousand Dollar Apostrophe >
      • $10,000 Apostrophe Preface
      • $10,000 Apostrophe Introduction
  • About Nora
  • Articles and Insights
    • Kourambiethes Recipe
    • Tip of the Day >
      • Help Put an End to Verbal Abuse in Business Messaging
      • Domain Name Goofs and Tips
      • Revise for Clarity, Flow and Brevity
      • Be Consistent With Pronouns and Adjectives
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Coaches Stealing Ideas?
      • Keeping it Here Series
    • Writing, Media Relations and Communications >
      • Media Sense and Savvy: Does Your Email Speak to Journalists?
      • Media Sense and Savvy: Examples of Real-World Positive Media-Relations Experiences
      • Avoid the Capital Offense and Its Lasting Consequences
      • Publicity and Media Relations: Overview from the Journalists' Perspective
      • Writing Web Pages and Documents for Good SEO
      • How to Prepare for a Radio Interview
    • Publishing >
      • Publishing Turns a Page
    • Website Design and Management >
      • DIY Website Essentials
      • A Virtual Press Room Makes a Real Difference
      • More Web Design Articles
    • Home and Lifestyle Articles >
      • The Lives and Minds of Hoarders
    • History >
      • Interview With Pearl Harbor Survivors
    • Health and General Subjects
  • On Air
    • Contact the Show
  • News Room
  • Blog
  • Contact
Nora Firestone quote:
Tip of the Day

Warning! 
Your Public Business Messages May Be Verbally Abusive to the Most Discerning Members of Your Target Market

Don't assault unsuspecting consumers with improper capitalization and punctuation overload!

Nora Firestone's Tip of the Day: Help put an end to verbal abuse. Don't assault consumers with improper capitalization and punctuation!
Click here for three easy steps to set this infographic as your desktop image, or click "Download File" to download and print:
$10000_apostrophe_tip_081415_desktop.png
File Size: 293 kb
File Type: png
Download File

By Nora Firestone
08/14/2015

Are your public business messages verbally abusive to potential customers?

If you follow popular "wisdom," you may be a public-messaging perp. Contrary to what many business messengers seem to believe, disregard for the rules of language in professional copy can turn potential consumers away in droves. They feel "abused" by the badgering and chaos. The smart ones simply won't tolerate it.

Yet the problem persists, growing more pervasive as the digital publishing universe expands.

For decades I've been polling consumers about the issue, and since 2012 I've been teaching small-business owners, authors, marketing professionals and others about how and why to avoid some of the most common errors in their own written and spoken public business messages.

"Your written and spoken public messages must reflect the level of professionalism and attention to detail that people can expect to find in all other areas of your business," I explain. And such is the premise of my book The $10,000 Apostrophe, due to be released in December.   

One of the most common errors I encounter -- especially in self-published online marketing messages -- is the improper use of capitalization and punctuation for emphasis. And believe it or not, some of the worst offenders are those high-priced "coaches" who want to teach me how to make gazillions as a professional copywriter!

Ha! Shame on them. They need my professional advice, not vice versa. 

But they're not the only ones. Public-messaging perps come from all walks of business and barge in to our homes, offices and inboxes daily. I've been trying to stop the madness, but I can't do it alone. I need your help. Please share this important consumer-health Tip of the Day message today, and then read my insightful article on the topic here: Avoid the Capital Offense and Its Lasting Consequences. You'll be glad you did. :) 
Go to "Capital Offense" article

Author

Nora Firestone is a professional writer, news reporter, Weebly website designer and acquisitions editor for Koehler Books publishing company. Since 2012, she leads presentations and workshops on writing for business, media relations, DIY website design, home-improvement projects and more.


Here's how to easily set this infographic as your desktop image!
All Tips of the Day
Nora Firestone cartoon logo
Content copyright 2008-2021, ​Nora Firestone (757) 749-8264
Proud Weebly user, site builder, instructor and official brand ambassador:
Weebly Ambassador Nora Firestone
The Easiest Way to Create a Website. Weebly.com
Tweets by @NoraFirestone