Finding a voice is one of the most difficult tasks a writer faces. Finding a business voice can be even trickier because business deals with something larger and more formal than ourselves. You have a lot to say, and you need people to listen. How do you do it?  Here are a few basics that apply to almost every piece of business writing.

1. Don’t Qualify Your Statements.  
Which sentence makes you believe me more?
a) Avoid qualifiers.
b) Maybe you should think about not using so many qualifiers.

Try to steer clear of “maybe,” “might,” “seems,” “could,” or “probably.” While your intent may be to offer choices and not seem pushy, qualifiers can give people a reason to doubt you. You are an expert in your field. Show why people can trust you. Be ready to back up your claims.  

2. Don’t Rely on the Passive Voice.
In most cases, you want to use the active voice. It is easier to follow and more interesting to read. The only one who gets the point across consistently with the passive voice is Yoda the Jedi Master in the Star Wars series.  

But this isn’t a galaxy far far away, and brace yourself here...you are not Yoda.

I am not Yoda.

In the real world, before deciding active versus passive, you must ask yourself, “Who or what is the point?” If there are legitimate reasons for using a passive voice and it aids readability, then use it. Otherwise, keep an active voice.

3.  Know Your Business and Your Audience.
If you can answer these questions about your company, then you’ll have a solid foundation for your business voice.

1. Who will be reading this?
2. What are their motivations?
3. What do I want them to learn from this?
4. What image(s) do I want to promote for the company? Serious and trustworthy? Fun? Inspirational? Price Conscious? Convenient? Elite? Other?

Some of the largest food retailers have mastered the craft of voice because they know how to target their desired audience.

Take a look at these business voices:

Trader Joe’s:
“Some folks contemplate greatness. At Trader Joe’s we contemplate greenness. Through dark times and bumps in the road, we’ve discovered, via extended periods of contemplation, that it is indeed possible to achieve greatness in greenness.” – Fearless Flyer

Walmart:
“Breakfast food. Rise and Shine with eye-opening savings on breakfast food at Walmart. Breakfasts food of all kinds costs less when you get them at Walmart.” – Cereal and Breakfast Food

Whole Foods:
“An Italian, whole-wheat pasta with an eye on the environment! DeLallo Biodynamic Pasta relies on the pure and ancient practice of sustainable farming for its wheat.” –Featured Products

In just a couple sentences we learned a lot about each of these companies. Trader Joe’s is a company of every-day people who are having fun. Walmart is friendly with unbeatable prices. Whole Foods is trustworthy, sustainable, and health-conscious. These are three very different business voices all about the same subject...food. These companies know who they are and what their consumers want, and convey that clearly in their business voices.

If you know your audience and yourself, it’s hard to go wrong. If you would like help with this very important project, Juniper Shore Publications can help you identify and craft your voice.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

However, a recent factoid challenges that adage. According to http://visualteachingalliance.com, our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Therefore, it's no surprise that pictures and words pair together like pb and j to help a reader understand a document.  

But you still need to lay it out well...

Entertain the Brain.

When designing a document, think about ways to keep your reader engaged. Invest time in researching and selecting the right colors and shapes to use. Of course, much like stars, no two brains are exactly alike. What draws one person's attention may be overlooked by another.

However, there is something to the science. Research it. Know your audience. If you click on a website and it makes your eyes hurt and your head spin, it's safe to say the chosen design may be a bad one.

Your document must be aesthetically pleasing. Here's an interesting and very visual read with examples, http://www.slideshare.net/hollykatharine/understanding-the-basics-of-document-design.

Get Graphic.

We all remember the 80’s ad campaign with a small kid telling bigger guys how he may look like this now, but just wait and see. “Milk, it does a body good.” The images are iconic. The phrase is catchy and fairly short.

In the 90s the phrase evolved with the simple, yet legendary, “Got Milk?” campaign and the world's largest celebrities became immortalized wearing a milk mustache. The milk campaigns still offer some of the most powerful images today and show just how important visual elements are in conveying a message.

If your pictures are strong enough and the words are selected wisely, the combination of text and graphics are uniquely powerful.

Get Some Help.

If you need a little assistance, there are many websites out there to guide with design and graphics. Whether designing curriculum, marketing literature, or a direct mail campaign, If you'd like a more personal touch in blending text and design, Juniper Shore Publications is here for you.

Some people find grammar boring and uptight. Others cannot get enough of it (ourselves included...we are commonly referred to as the grammar police and don’t mind one bit!). Even if you use spell check (and please use spell check!), mistakes happen. These errors hinder effective communication, distract readers, and are just unprofessional.

Here are four grammar errors that even a good proofreader might miss:

1. The Comma Artist

This blog post is about the comma, a very important punctuation mark, and proofreading.

This blog post is about proofreading and the comma, a very important punctuation mark.

Where you put commas matters. It’s easy to overlook, but it does matter. Usually careful re-reading and some fiddling with placement will solve the problem. Keeping style guides on hand, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, will also help alleviate common comma woes.

2. The Dangling Participle 

Hurrying to think of an example of a dangling participle, the tea got cold.

Here’s the problem: as much as I wish my tea could think up examples for me, it seems rather unlikely. The first clause of this sentence doesn’t name a subject, so it grabs the nearest noun it can: the tea. Generally, readers can infer the meanings of these sentences, but not always. Pay attention to subject placement. (Also, if you don’t dangle your participles, people won’t giggle at your inadvertently absurd sentences!)

3. The Wrong Word

They sound the same, so sometimes we type the wrong one. Here are a few of the most commonly mistaken homophones:

-Fewer and Less –  The less you confuse this, the fewer times you’ll have to edit.

-You’re and Your – You’re going to make fewer grammar mistakes in your writing now!

-Their, There, and They’re – There are many grammar experts, and they’re very precise in their writing.

4. The Agreements
While writing many late night essay in college, I frequently made this error.

All the nouns, verbs, and pronouns need to be in the same tense and plurality. Our brain will often do things like fill in the “s” at the end of a word, and we don’t always see these things when we edit. Editing by reading out loud will help to locate these errors.

Paying attention to grammar helps make your smart ideas and phrases easier to understand and more enjoyable to read. When you need a fresh set of eyes, Juniper Shore Publications is happy to be your first responder to editing emergencies.

There are countless ways to create a positive image across web platforms. Whether it’s through words or images, reputation management is something to consider implementing before you may actually need it. The following are a couple of the most universal ways business owners or companies choose to manage their reputation.

Lost and Found
If you or I need help, we need it now. Make sure your business ranks number one in the browser search. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a key to success. Keep your website domain plain and simple: companyname.com; or if you are developing a personal brand: firstnamelastname.com.  

Some companies hire a professional just for SEO. SEO pros spend hours and hours researching how to get your name out there, first. Think about incorporating a blog on your company website, or creating a new domain for a company blog. Blogging is a great way to share information with readers or customers with a personable approach.

Be Social
Keep up to date with social media and build a strong audience. Social media marketing gives you the potential to grow your business and attract loyal customers without spending a dime on advertising. Here are some of the most tried and true social networks:

• Facebook – Post industry-related articles, images, videos.
  
  
• LinkedIn – Create a page for your business. Share content with people in similar industries. People can easily recommend you to others.
  
  
• Twitter – Follow tweeters in the same industry, or related, and gain a decent number of followers in return. Tweet about specials, discounts, and news updates, while keeping engaged and interacting with customers. Because Twitter only allows a certain amount of characters, you must be succinct to get your point across.
  
  
• Google+ – Upload and share photos, videos, links, and host video conferences, or how-to tutorials.
  
  
• YouTube – The go-to place for video content. Create useful how-to videos; the possibilities are endless. Be sure to include your name or company name in the title.
  
  
• Pinterest – Not just for crafters anymore. Pinterest showcases product offerings while developing your brand’s persona with unique pinboards.
  
  
• Instagram – Upload pictures and develop a strong following of customers who pursue interest in your business.
  
  
• Yelp – Encourage customers to upload photos of your company’s product and post reviews, offer extra incentives such as check-in rewards or special discounts.
  
  
• Flickr – Great for pictures. Always make sure your photo’s file name is companyname.jpg, or yourname.jpg.
  
  
• Vimeo – Similar to YouTube, but much smaller. Forbes.com lays out the differences nicely here http://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2014/05/04/things-you-should-know-about-youtube-vimeo-vine-and-instagram/ 

Here’s the key to creating continuity across the web: stay true to your brand, but be willing and able to change with the audience and the everchanging ways to reach them.