online written content Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/online-written-content/ Fri, 20 Nov 2015 23:06:44 +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 online written content Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/online-written-content/ 32 32 Goldfish vs. Humans https://old.wordsbyapro.com/goldfish-vs-humans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=goldfish-vs-humans Tue, 21 Jul 2015 19:49:56 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1247 Last week I was riding the 7 train uptown from Grand Central a few hours after the morning rush. There were no strap-hangers, but most of the seats were occupied. I couldn’t help but observe my fellow riders, the majority of whom were engaged with the small screen before them. A car full of necks […]

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]]> Communication Breakdown: Why Your Marketing Has to Be Focused https://old.wordsbyapro.com/communication-breakdown-why-your-marketing-has-to-be-focused/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=communication-breakdown-why-your-marketing-has-to-be-focused Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:39:13 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1164 Q: What do landing the perfect job, finding your ideal mate, and winning friends all have in common? A: They all require you to know how to market yourself. Yes, it’s the reason people sweat interviews (and first dates), spend hours drafting cover letters, and even pay others to assemble their résumés — we don’t […]

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]]> How to Use (and Avoid) Obscure Words https://old.wordsbyapro.com/how-to-use-and-avoid-obscure-words/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-use-and-avoid-obscure-words https://old.wordsbyapro.com/how-to-use-and-avoid-obscure-words/#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:10:48 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1157 If you are someone who enjoys writing, you probably take pride in using your skill and knowledge of the language to craft a message that communicates exactly the intended point. The raw materials at your disposal—words—are not unlike those of a sculptor; some are easier to work with than others. So when you can master […]

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]]> https://old.wordsbyapro.com/how-to-use-and-avoid-obscure-words/feed/ 1 How Blogging Is Like Skydiving, and Other Misplaced Comparisons https://old.wordsbyapro.com/how-blogging-is-like-skydiving-and-other-misplaced-comparisons/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-blogging-is-like-skydiving-and-other-misplaced-comparisons Tue, 05 May 2015 17:25:53 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1130 Disclaimer: I’ve never been skydiving. The first step of blogging, like skydiving, is making the commitment to do it. Once you’ve decided you’re going to skydive, you’ve got to decide on a method for your jump. Are you going in tandem? How about an accelerated free fall? Or should you static line that bad boy? […]

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]]> A Case for Keeping It Real https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-case-for-keeping-it-real/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-case-for-keeping-it-real Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:23:07 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1065 Epic fail. Literally the best. The most amazing. The absolute worst. These superlative descriptions are best reserved for, respectively, the sinking of the Titanic, invention of the wheel, the Great Pyramid of Giza and the 1918 flu pandemic. Today, it’s hard to know where you stand when something as minor as burnt toast can be […]

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]]> A Pinch or a Pound? How Adjective Use Is Ruining Your Writing https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-pinch-or-a-pound-how-adjective-use-is-ruining-your-writing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-pinch-or-a-pound-how-adjective-use-is-ruining-your-writing Tue, 24 Mar 2015 18:35:06 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1047 Envision a gothic fantasy tale, with a blood-sucking horror sitting at a piano. His cold, pale hands dance over the white, glistening keys of the ancient instrument as his haggard, wet breath exits his chest in a tremendous gray cloud of cold, damp vapor. Your skin may have crawled a little while reading that, but […]

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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 The Law Is Mightier than the Pen: Staying Out of Copyright Trouble https://old.wordsbyapro.com/the-law-is-mightier-than-the-pen-staying-out-of-copyright-trouble/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-law-is-mightier-than-the-pen-staying-out-of-copyright-trouble Tue, 24 Feb 2015 17:28:15 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=949 A time-honored practice in writing is…let’s call it “borrowing.” You see someone else’s clever turn of phrase, a few words that perfectly describe what you’re trying to convey, a zinger pun, and you decide to use it in your own writing. Maybe you change the words around to fit your situation, or maybe you don’t, […]

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]]> Website Copywriting, Will You Be My Valentine? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/website-copywriting-will-you-be-my-valentine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=website-copywriting-will-you-be-my-valentine Tue, 10 Feb 2015 14:43:03 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=936 I’ve always had a thing for Valentine’s Day that I can’t explain. Maybe it’s the incongruous combination of red and pink. Or maybe it’s the stupid puns on hokey valentines and cheap, terrible candy. Could be the hearts, because I really do love hearts. Beyond all those solidly rational reasons, though, my absolute favorite thing […]

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]]> 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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