On Words and Business

As my dentist repaired some substandard work done by a previous dentist, we discussed the issue of trust. How one must trust that a dentist knows what he or she is doing. You hate to find out, three years on, that it was done wrong and now you have to pay to have it redone, and go through the annoyance (or agony, depending on how you feel about dental work) all over again.

Many professionals provide services that we, as consumers, can neither do ourselves nor truly judge, unless something goes wrong.  Dentists, doctors, auto mechanics. So we have to trust the person, trust he is honest, trust that she knows what she’s doing.

Writers don’t have exactly the same problem with trust. Trust is still a very important component–writers write for clients, so copy should address the specific need and audience, and the relationship should be open and honest, in both directions. But with writing, clients can judge the work the moment you put it in their hands. They can tell if it’s too formal or not persuasive enough for their audience.  And they can judge the work based on their own opinions, too.

It can be an interesting conversation when a writer and client have different opinions about the final product. But I’d much rather have my clients be able to judge my work immediately, and address the issue immediately, than to have someone find out three years from now that they are really disappointed with my work.

This may sound like a silly appeal, but do remember to include the name of your business on your marketing materials.

A couple days ago, I received an invitation to an event. I know what time the event will take place, when refreshments will be served, and where the event is (complete with a map). I can even guess the type of business this is from the list of products and services.

What I don’t know is the name of this business. Nor how to get in touch with them (via phone or web) if I have any questions.

We’ve all heard stories about an author’s name misspelled on a book cover because no one checked it. This story never hit the wires, but my name was once spelled wrong in the acknowledgments section of a book because none of us, including me as the product manager, read my name when reviewing that section. We all skimmed over it. Because of course it’s right. Right?

This is the kind of thing the double check was invented for.

Your business’s name is pretty important. And unless you’re Nike or another in that small band of companies with an instantly recognizable logo, make sure you tell your customers who you are.

A friend just introduced me to the Boston Police blog. I shouldn’t have been so surprised to discover they have one, nor that my friends subscribes to it. But I was. It contains daily incidents, preliminary statistics, and the kind of press releases newspapers use for local interest stories. It contains just the facts. No real interpretation or evaluation, but that’s not the job of the police anyway.

This is a great way to make this information available to residents, and anyone interested in this kind of information.

Now, if they only would include a link to the folks who write it. Entries are posted by “media relations” and I’m sure that multiple people have responsibilities here. But if they’re going to the trouble to share this much information with us, why not go all the way. As with community police officers, we like to know who’s watching our back.