It can sometimes be overwhelming to deal with the clutter in your life, your mind, and on your desk. Sometimes it is a question of not enough time. Sometimes it is because we are distracted or have trouble prioritizing. It can be a challenge to collect your thoughts and be productive.

Here are a few simple guidelines to help you organize your thoughts and translate them to your writing. They can be useful whether you are writing a proposal, business plan, or just a simple email.

1. Minimize distractions that take away your focus. You may need to do this alone. It may be just going through your paperwork and clearing off your desk. Defining an uncluttered workspace can make all the difference in the world.

2. Decide on your mode of writing. You may want to use pencil and paper or a word processor such as Word. Consider that what you are writing is a first draft. You can edit it later. In any case, use a tool that is easy to erase or edit, such as a pencil or keyboard. Know that you will be revising your thoughts after this first draft.

3. Record all your thoughts. Throw everything down on paper or online. What your write the first time is always longer and less organized than the final product. For now, just write in a format that you will understand later. You can use shorthand or single words if they will trigger what you meant when you come back to this first draft.

4. Take a break. Leave what you have initially written and do something totally unrelated to it. Take a shower, work on another project or go for a walk. Clear your mind and then come back to the writing.

5. Go back to your notes. At this point, you are your own editor. Use a simple system to move similar ideas around and group them together. Edit out what is unnecessary or redundant. At this point, you may want someone else to review your writing. This is especially true if it is a longer piece of writing, not just a quick email.

6. Decide on a strategy for organizing your thoughts. If you are writing a narrative – perhaps a report on a meeting – group your ideas chronologically. If you are writing a sales or marketing pitch, present the strongest points first. Remember that readers often spend less than three minutes reading a proposal or report.

7. Put these strategies into regular practice. Practice does make perfect. If you get in the habit of organizing your writing tasks in this manner, it will come easier every time. And you will see the results.

Remember, if you need help in getting this process rolling and making it a regular strategy for how you work, consult an expert. A professional writer or editor can get you going on the right track. This may only take a session or two. Then you are off on your own heading toward success.

Have you ever felt stymied regarding your business or organization? Have you ever wanted to make a change but have no idea how to do it? Of course you have. We all have at some time. However, there are scientifically based ways in which we can unlock that creativity we all have. We can have breakthroughs in order to develop new ideas and make positive changes.

From the time we are in grade school, more emphasis is placed on developing the left hemisphere of the brain. After all, it’s logical, language-based and rational. People who are verbal and have problem-solving skills are said to be left dominant. The right hemisphere, which is more visual than verbal, sees more deeply and subtly than the left. People who are good at reading maps and graphical information are said to be right dominant. Sometimes dominance is deduced by what hand you favor. For example, if you are a lefty, you are probably right dominant.

What does the scientific research tell us about creativity? Let’s look at what researchers have identified as the predictable stages of creative thinking.

The first key to intentionally nurturing our creativity is to understand how it works.  The stages often unfold in unpredictable sequence, and wrap back on one another. Still, keeping them in mind lets us know where we are in the creative process, and how to get to where we need to go.

1. SATURATION: Once the challenge has been defined, it is time for self-absorption of what is known about the challenge to date. In other words, you need to think about the problem you are facing.

2. INCUBATION: This stage of creativity involves mulling over information, often unconsciously. Intense exercise or being preoccupied with a task are some of the best ways to access new ideas and solutions. How often have you had a light bulb go off when you are working out or taking a shower?

3. ILLUMINATION: When you give your left hemisphere a rest, you’re bound to have those “Ah-ha” moments, the third stage of creativity. So focus on the right side of your brain to visualize the problem and better analyze it.

4. VERIFICATION: In this final stage of creativity, the left hemisphere again takes over to challenge and test the breakthrough you’ve had. Your logic and organizational skills kick in.

Ultimately, the highest creativity depends on making frequent waves — learning to engage the whole brain by moving flexibly and intentionally between the right and left hemisphere, activity and rest, effort and letting go. That’s also a pretty good prescription for how to live.

Based on “How to Think Creatively”, Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review

“Adding value” is a key concept in business studies. Technically, added value = the difference between the price of the finished product or service and the cost of the inputs involved in making it. So, added value is the increase in value that a business creates.

We all want to have more business. Then how does this concept translate into improving your sales and productivity? Here are some tips for making your business go the extra distance in gaining and retaining customers.

SEND OUT FREE INFORMATION. Any useful information that can be read online, anything that can be shared by the organization is added value. Write a newsletter or enter blog posts on your website. You can also send out email blasts to everyone in your database. Several companies offer templates for writing and disseminating emails, among them Constant Contact and Mailchimp, which is free. This information will keep you on customers’ minds. But make sure that the content is not blatant self-promotion. Rather, provide tips and useful information that will ultimately promote your brand.

OFFER A BROCHURE OR EBOOK. This is a broader project. Topics can include how to improve blogging, writing effective emails or improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You do not want to give away the store, so write something short as an enticement. You can always then do a full blown version at a cost. In any case, it is a hook to get customers drawn into your company.

Remember that when you offer an ebook it is only an introduction to a larger book. The smaller introductory version can be free while the full-blown one can cost. $25 is a good price point. And also remember that you will be able to capture data from the customer who signs up.

HAVE LIMITED FREE CALL-IN SUPPORT. Again, you do not want to do something so big that it becomes a losing proposition. Offer limited free support and advice, maybe no more than three timed calls. Make sure that customers speak to a human directly, rather than getting into that automated phone hell of multiple steps to get to customer support.

WHAT A SMALL BUSINESS CAN DO. Sure these ideas seem interesting and potentially successful in drawing new customers and retaining existing ones. But what if you are a small operation and do not have the person power to support such endeavors? Start small and keep such services to a small scale. Focus on only one freebie for starters. Often you may not have the internal resource for these projects. Job out some of the work at a small cost. Shop around for a service that can provide writing blog posts, group emails or an online brochure.

These suggestions have been embraced successfully by companies large and small. They can expand your customer base, satisfy them so they remain loyal and build your brand.

The Internet is not enough. Face-to-face networking is still the most powerful tool available to grow a business and increase income. Of course, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are all important avenues to get your name and you out there. But most people overwhelmingly still get employment and clients through networking.

Join a group. I have recently joined a chapter getting organized of a formal networking group, Business Networking International (BNI). For those of you who do not know, BNI is the largest business networking organization in the world.  BNI offers members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and, most importantly, business referrals. It can be very powerful because it functions like a spider on the web. My primary networking contacts yield secondary contacts who yield more contacts, etc. So a referral that is returned may not come from the person to whom it was given.  The following appeared in a New York Times article about the power of BNI: “We’ve had some tremendous stories. There is a printer in our group who met a real estate agent… That agency wanted to switch its printing and gave him this job… It was more than a $100,000 job.”

Networking is egalitarian. The best networkers know that networking is a life skill, not just something you do when you want something. And those who are successful are excellent listeners, not just talkers. The beauty of all this is that the networking world is open to everyone, without exception, as long as networking values are ethical.

Great networkers are not born, they are made. But becoming a successful networker is easier than you may think. Anyone can improve his or her networking and influencing skills.

Pay it forward. It is important to recognize that what you give out comes back tenfold.  If you give out help, you get back help. If you give out information, you get back information.  The challenge, of course, is that although for you the giving is instant and in the short term, the receiving may not happen for some time.  The process takes patience. A successful accountant that I know has told me that 30% of his business comes from his BNI chapter. But it took about a year for him to achieve that percentage.

Follow the Golden Rule. Great networkers are aware that every best friend was once a perfect stranger, and that you never know who that stranger in front of you actually has in his or her network. The basic philosophy of great networkers is to treat everyone the way they would like to be treated.

As you already know, social media is prevalent in our work and professional lives. And it is here to stay. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are powerful. They present platforms in which to express yourself in your own voice.

We need to separate personal use of social media from professional. In a business context someone once said, “You wear sweats when you are using Twitter, a shirt and khakis for Facebook, and a business suit for LinkedIn.” This captures the essence of these three very different applications very well.

Write so you get noticed. Try to focus on getting a visitor to click on a link or to look at something you have shared or liked or to retweet. You can get someone’s attention by being more creative with your tweets or updates. For example, instead of tweeting, “Here is a list of writing tips for using social media”, create engagement and excitement by writing, “Do you want some useful tips on improving your writing for social media? Well, click on this link.”

Is there a recommended schedule for when to update your site or to tweet? Some say to tweet three or four times a day, or at least multiple times for three days a week.  One recommendation for Facebook is to post one entry daily. Others say to keep making changes on LinkedIn on a regular basis, constantly updating your profile with new achievements and adding new connections. The reason for making changes and tweeting regularly is so that your entrees will appear in readers’s or followers’s news or RSS feeds on a number of occasions. Bottom line: you want to be more noticeable. On Twitter this is especially true if the person who is following you is also following a large number of others. Your message can then become viral.

One recommendation that seems to work is to tweet or make changes on Wednesday mornings, the peak time people check. Mondays are less favorable because people are just starting the week and catching up on work from the preceding week.

The best rule is to be consistent. Update on a regular basis. And keep your Facebook posts to between 100 and 300 characters.  Of course you have the 140 character limit on Twitter. A LinkedIn update can be even shorter, depending on the news you want to share. And remember that you are not writing a monologue; it is an engaging conversation.

Social media is less formal than other forms of writing. So keep it fun and interesting. Avoid writing an advertisement for yourself or your business. Don’t hard sell. This puts people off from interacting with you. Potential customers and clients want to take the time to talk and engage with a brand that seeks the company of others, rather than abruptly trying to push their products or services onto them.

And finally, demonstrate how well you write. Although it is a less formal avenue for marketing than writing a white paper or brochure, show the quality of your writing, Review what you have written before you put it up. Check for grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes.

Social media is an integral part of online marketing. So implement these tips immediately. One thing is for sure: you will see the results almost instantaneously. Social media is about immediacy and engagement.

We’re often too hard on ourselves when it comes to evaluating our writing. In all of us, there is the core of an inner writer. It is sometimes very hard to tap into this ability. And, as in sports or music, some of us are more gifted than others. But that doesn’t mean that you should shun the idea of improving your writing. Writing is a task that we’re all required to do at some point in our work lives.

Beverly Zibrak, Word Doc

So here are some tips on how to improve your writing. I hope they help and give you the confidence to continue honing your skills.

Master the basics. Stephen King wrote in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, “[I have] two theses, both simple. The first is that good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals (vocabulary, grammar, the elements of style). It is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.” In other words, we can all improve our writing. But we need to start with the fundamentals, remembering what we learned in English 101.

Good writers always review and edit what they have written.A first draft is just that. No one submits his or her first draft without editing it. Have someone else  review and edit your writing before you send it to a broader audience. Find someone who to check for typos and grammar. These people don’t have to be professionals, just have a keen eye. One of my best sources is a real estate agent who finds every error in my writing. Bad writers do not review anything. It may seem time-consuming and difficult, but in the long run editing our work is time well-spent.

Know when enough is enough. William Carlos Williams wrote: “To know when to quit when you’ve done. And not to have hangovers of other ideas sifting in unnoticed. Good writing is precisely like good dressing. Bad writing is like a badly dressed woman – improper emphasis, badly chosen colors.” In other words, say what you need to say and make your point, then exit. You will lose your audience if you ramble on.

Lastly, allow yourself to write badly. Julia Cameron wrote in The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life …. “Let it all in – every little detail that catches your fancy. You can sort it out later – if it needs any sorting.” Your first draft should be your longest piece of writing. When you fine tune what you have initially written, future drafts will be shorter and the ideas will hang together better.

To better writing and great success!

What do we know? In a newspaper interview, the comedian, author and playwright David Sedaris once said, “Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it.” In point of fact, this is largely true. Whether it is a work of fiction, a newspaper article or some business writing, the reader takes away from it biased information. It is biased because we all bring our own opinions and prejudices to everything we read – and write.

What is writing to persuade? One of the most difficult types of writing to master is persuasive writing.  Persuasion is simply a way of convincing someone else of your point of view. You can use persuasion to plead your case, sway others to your way of thinking, and as a way of leveraging your influence in order to get the reader to agree with you.

A proposal, pitch and query are examples of types of persuasive writing that all writers must employ. There’s simply no way around selling yourself, unless you aspire to only be read after your death. Arguing skillfully is a potent tool. Writers need to know how and when to use it. Here are some strategies you can use for writing a persuasive piece. And, in reality, all writing has an element of persuasion in it.

Don’t rant and rave. Raging on and on in an agitated fashion about your biases has never been a particularly effective call to action or an efficient way to change people’s minds. However, arguing the reverse argument with some passion might be a persuasive way to show just how absurd the opposing point of view is, which may illustrate the wisdom of your perspective. Then coolly and in an objective tone argue your case.

Paint a picture of the positive benefits of your position. Or conversely, paint a picture of the negative impact of a differing point of view. Go with facts whenever possible rather than what might or could happen. Avoid high emotion and histrionics. But provide graphic details to make your argument.

Explore a list of reasons as a strategy. Strive to build your argument from the ground up. Don’t present your conclusion before you give step-by-step arguments for your case. You can also describe the opposite position and then proceed to build a case for how flawed that way of thinking is, point by detailed point.

Why not try cajoling instead of issuing orders? Be encouraging. Be inspiring. Create a call to action and invoke a sense of what things could be like if the reader accepts and agrees with your argument. Let your readers know that feeling good will be the result of their allegiance to your point of view.

Just ask! In the end, people will often do what you suggest or even agree with you, not for any of the reasons above, but simply because you were persistent, invested, and a wee bit insistent. Sometimes people will let you persuade them just to have closure.

When writing to persuade, use the tools at your disposal — whatever it takes. Then make your case, take a stand, build your argument, ask for assistance, and then exit. Rambling on and on will only dilute your argument and your case.

I hope this information has been useful and has persuaded you to try some persuasive writing to convince and inform your clients and customers.

Undoubtedly, the physicist Richard P. Feynman was one of the greatest scientific minds that ever lived. From 1961 to 1963, this Nobel laureate delivered a set of lectures to classes in basic physics. Feynman’s goal was to create a set of materials that could be used worldwide in the teaching of physics. These lectures became the basis of the book Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics by Its Most Brilliant Teacher.

Unlike so many scientists, Feynman was an excellent writer and could explain complex principles to an audience without any knowledge of advanced mathematics by using everyday analogies.

Best of all, this brilliant man made physics not only accessible to the layman but fun!

The topics of the six “easy pieces” or lectures were:

1. Atoms In Motion – an examination of the atomic theory of matter and how atoms react with each other.
2. Basic Physics – the history of physics before and after the discovery of quantum mechanics.
3. The Relation of Physics to Other Sciences – how physics can be used to explain chemical, biological, geological and astronomical phenomena.
4. Conservation of Energy – the fundamental principle of conservation of energy, and how energy can change form.
5. The Theory of Gravitation – the development of the theory of gravity from Kepler to Einstein.
6. Quantum Behavior – an explanation of some simple thought experiments demonstrating the weirdness of quantum behavior.

Pretty heady stuff, right? But, as an accomplished and talented writer – and secondarily a physicist – Feynman was able to engage, excite and entertain his audience. All at the same time as delivering relevant scientific information.

This daunting task is not so daunting to the effective professional writer. I do not claim to have any of the brilliance of a Richard Feynman. But, in my many years as a technical writer and later the director of a documentation department in a software company, I was challenged constantly to take complex information and concepts and make them not only palatable, but also relevant and interesting to my audience of computer end-users. These end-users brought to the table no special computer skills or knowledge. The audience ranged from people who wanted to file their own taxes and not use an accountant to doctors who wanted to produce reports by speaking.

The basic premise I am stating is that one can develop professional knowledge by using one’s own intelligence and studying hard to become a physicist or doctor. Or a person can learn a trade such as plumbing or woodworking by hands-on experience and often apprenticeship. Or someone can take courses to become an interior designer or financial planner. But writing, like music and art, is a talent that one does or doesn’t have. Surely it needs to be fine-tuned and improved upon; but, ultimately, writers are born not made. This is certainly true for the novelist or non-fiction writer.

The Reasons

Let’s assume that your company sells shoes. Or maybe you offer financial services to individual clients. Your product or service speaks for itself. So how important is good writing or editing to your brand? The short answer is “extremely”. Here’s why.

• Good writing and editing reflect your quality brand.
• Good writing and editing articulate and define what your company can do for its clients.
• Good writing and editing send the message that your company invests in excellence.
• Good writing and editing are often at the forefront of how your company is perceived.

Your Website

This last point is most evident in the content of your website. A company hires a professional web design company to develop its corporate website. The design firm may be a soup-to-nuts operation; offering design, content, and hosting. If you hire a small firm, it is unlikely that it has professional writers or editors on staff. More than likely, the design firm will job out its writing. That puts you, the company who hired the firm, two degrees away from quality control. However, if you hire a professional writer directly, you are more likely to get exactly the content that you want for your site. Design firms typically offer the option of them providing web content or the client doing so. Always take the option of you providing content. Then hire a professional writer to do it.

The Added Value of Professional Writing

Now let’s say that your company has a tight budget. The line item designated for writing is a small portion of your overall operating costs. Despite these financial constraints, it is money well spent to hire a pro.

It is easy to tell the difference between professionally written materials and those written by whoever volunteers or is drafted in your organization. It is often hard to put a finger on the difference, but it is there. Some differences are broad. There is less clarity. Points are often made in a roundabout way. Sometimes it is even hard to know what the point is.

Other differences are more specific. There may be errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. There is no topic sentence within paragraphs. There are run-on sentences. The writer uses the passive voice more frequently than the active voice.

It is always easiest to avoid these pitfalls by hiring a professional writer or editor. The writer can write fresh, new material. The editor may be expert at revising existing material and may charge less. Ideally, it is best to hire someone with both these distinct skills. As in most things, in the long run cheap is dear.

WRITING FOR INTERNATIONALS

For years I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at a local college. My students came from all over the world in order to go to college or graduate school in America. It was an eye-opening experience. I gained from it a strong appreciation of the special challenges for non-native speakers (and writers) of English.

Writing in another language is difficult for even the most proficient language speakers. We understand another language more easily than we can speak it. And we can read another language more easily than writing in it.

To add to the mix, business writing has its own jargon and complexities. Just writing an email can be daunting for the second language speaker. Imagine how hard it can be to draft a white paper or marcomm piece.

So, I’d like to give you some guidelines for writing whether English is your first language or not.

DO NOT FEEL INHIBITED

It is daunting to speak a foreign language, let alone write in it. But take a leap and do so. Native English speakers make lots of mistakes in their writing and people can be forgiving. All the more so if English is not your first language.

DO NOT WRITE FIRST IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE

Unless your first language is American (not British or Australian) English, do not write original material in your first language and then translate. It will come out stilted and, often, incorrect. Also, avoid using online translation tools. I once worked on a project with Polish software programmers. I thought it would be friendly to write an introductory note in Polish (which I do not speak or write). I used a Google tool. The result was that the Pole was offended and told me that I wrote in very bad Polish.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Try to remember what you learned in English 101. Use straightforward language. Don’t use “utilize” or “terminate” when “use” and “end” work just as well. Also, keep your sentence structure readable. Do not use the passive voice. And avoid run-on sentences.

RELY ON HELP

Use a dictionary or thesaurus when you are at a loss for a word or struggling to convey just the right meaning. In other words, when you can’t say exactly what you want to say. And rely on other people. Find someone in your organization who is a good writer or editor. Ask him or her to review your work before sending it out. If there is no such person, look for outside help. Find the best person you know who is a good communicator.

Good luck and good writing!