good business practice Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/good-business-practice/ Thu, 24 Sep 2015 03:26:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cropped-WBP-FAVICON_7-32x32.jpg good business practice Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/good-business-practice/ 32 32 The Dream of a Common Language https://old.wordsbyapro.com/the-dream-of-a-common-language/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-dream-of-a-common-language Tue, 16 Jun 2015 12:13:28 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1174 It may be a familiar trope in crime stories, but having a dead body in the trunk is a lousy selling point for an automobile. When Ford launched its ad campaign in Belgium, they wanted buyers to appreciate their excellent manufacturing and came up with the slogan “Every car has a high-quality body.” However translated […]

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]]> Is It Libel, or Just Free Speech? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/is-it-libel-or-just-free-speech/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-it-libel-or-just-free-speech Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:21:02 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1036 It may not have escaped your notice that Americans like to sue each other. One of our great modern thinkers, “Weird Al” Yankovic, even wrote a song about it (in part: “I’ll sue ya, I’ll take all your money / I’ll sue ya, if you even look at me funny!”). One thing that really gets […]

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]]> A Brief History of Advertising, Deception and Why Great Companies Matter https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-brief-history-of-advertising-deception-and-why-great-companies-matter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-brief-history-of-advertising-deception-and-why-great-companies-matter https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-brief-history-of-advertising-deception-and-why-great-companies-matter/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:14:41 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=967 Advertising, like language, is no modern phenomenon. Today, we’re so overburdened with ads that advertising has garnered a negative connotation. “Ugh, how can we get ads off of Facebook?” or “Why can’t they skip the ads before the movie starts?” are common 21st century woes. But advertising began not as a way of tricking people […]

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]]> https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-brief-history-of-advertising-deception-and-why-great-companies-matter/feed/ 1 Risky Business: Taking Risks with Your Writing https://old.wordsbyapro.com/risky-business-taking-risks-with-your-writing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=risky-business-taking-risks-with-your-writing Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:53:52 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=921 Do you engage in risky writing? Or, more to the point, should you? I’m not talking about Charlie Hebdo-style cartoons, or even the kind of novel that forced Salman Rushdie into hiding for years. I’m talking about garden-variety edginess for rhetorical effect: strong language, subtle references to sex, drugs, alcohol, bodily functions, taboos of various […]

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]]> Is Your Business Braced for the New Year? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/is-your-business-braced-for-the-new-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-your-business-braced-for-the-new-year Tue, 30 Dec 2014 15:48:53 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=859 Welp, here we are at the end of 2014 with a brand new year peeking out over the horizon. If you’re like us, you’re thinking about your business adventures from the past 12 months and planning on how to make 2015 blow 2014 right out of the water. Here are a few tips that can […]

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]]> Happiness Is a Warm Brand Name https://old.wordsbyapro.com/happiness-is-a-warm-brand-name/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=happiness-is-a-warm-brand-name Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:43:00 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=844 One of the most internationally ubiquitous weapons, the Russian AK-47, has undergone a little makeover. The assault rifle was developed in the 1940s in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov, who died almost exactly one year ago. Prior to his death, the weapons engineer wrote of his “spiritual pain” in wondering if the AK-47 has […]

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]]> Does Your Business Website, Social, or Copy Need a Touch of Pumpkin Spice? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/does-your-business-website-social-or-copy-need-a-touch-of-pumpkin-spice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=does-your-business-website-social-or-copy-need-a-touch-of-pumpkin-spice Tue, 07 Oct 2014 14:45:32 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=771 Ah, fall: my favorite time of year. I’m not a full-fledged drive-thru maven in yoga pants with an uncontrolled addiction to #PSLs, but I do love a touch of fall flavor. Interestingly, autumn is really a season of decay in some senses: the leaves wither and fall, the air turns colder, and warm ovens turn […]

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]]> The Hazards of Indecipherable Business Jargon https://old.wordsbyapro.com/the-hazards-of-indecipherable-business-jargon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-hazards-of-indecipherable-business-jargon Sat, 11 Jan 2014 02:06:39 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=425 While editing a stack of documents a few months back, I ran across the phrase “top of mind.” “Ugh, awkward,” I thought, and changed it. But then it popped up again a few docs later from a different writer, and then again while researching. Amid my growing suspicions, I managed to Google it with slightly […]

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