This blog can get off track, but at its core, it’s meant to be a (fun) resource for startups… guidance for writing better stuff, developing a better brand, and ultimately, building a better business. Up to this point, it’s been more big-picture stuff, and that’s good, but I have to cover the smaller stuff too. So, here’s the first ‘technical tips’ installment:
A couple days ago, a good friend asked me how to spell canceled – apparently, the word has two correct possibilities, canceled or cancelled. I gather he was asking for a hard-and-fast rule (like use one in this situation, and the other in this), and for all I know there is one. But I just told him what I use (and what I think startups should use): spell like you dress.
Sure, there are some rules you have to follow for both (never wear white socks with black dress pants for instance, and never spell train as trane for another). But beyond these, it’s about finding the right fit for your situation. This may mean wearing a light blue shirt with darker blue jeans, or tucking a dress shirt into Carharts. It may mean using canceled because it’s better balanced, or it may mean using cancelled because it’s stronger. It even may mean using 100strong because it’s better than 100Strong or 100 Strong (it is).
At the end of the day, it’s not about rules… it’s about finding the right spelling and the right words to communicate your brand. Dress well. Write well.
by brianlburns on 8 April 2008
in SEO, links
I’ve been going back and forth with Alan Jones the last couple days, in this set of posts, and on Twitter. You guys might be getting sick of it (I promise I won’t write about his blog for another week!), but he just posted another good piece… this one a conterpoint to my Why New Tech Doesn’t Need SEO post. It’s really good stuff, and brings up a point I’ve been meaning to write about. I won’t now (remember… at least not for a week), but I will sometime soon. Keep an eye out.
by brianlburns on 8 April 2008
in links
Allright… I just updated my blogroll/links page to include a few more good ones. And now, I’ve got another couple on my radar now. I’ll put ‘em up as I go.
One of the new entries is a blog by Alan Jones, called Doing Words. Alan is a consultant who helps startups find an identity – branding, writing, marketing, strategy, and so on… cool stuff and good work. He found my blog a couple days ago, and we’ve been talking (on twitter) since. We do similar stuff, and thus, we get along.
Earlier today, Alan wrote a piece for his blog (inspired by another blogger’s work), about social media. That we do it (and we follow it) not only for the utility and entertainment, but to define ourselves – to show who we are in a given moment, but also who we evolve to be over months (if not years). A sort of virtual biography that’s reflective, revealing, and most of all, engaging. A pure (and better) form of reality TV… just with more-sane (and actually interesting) people.
It’s a great post (as is the preceding one by Nic), and gives us a lot to think about as we see new-media develop. However, what’s most compelling here, at least for my blog, is the idea of a personal narrative. Taking a blank sheet (whether it be on a twitter, on a blog, or on the next new thing), and writing your identity onto it. Writing quality stuff that goes to the core of who you are (or who your company is), and puts it out there for people to connect with. That’s good content. The type people like to read… the type that creates a solid brand… and the type that startups should write.
That’s the type of writing StartupWriting.com is all about.
