by David Tandet Jerry Lynch quoted former Olympic volleyball player Lori Endicott in his  sports psychology classic Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: “There are six people on the volleyball court. We all have different strengths, weaknesses, personalities. It creates a dynamic that’s more exhilarating than an individual sport.” In Right Before You Write, Jonathan O’Brien has [...]

by David Tandet What do well-written screenplays and successful grant proposals have in common? A lot, it turns out. Jonathan O’Brien explains all about it in his book Right Before You Write. O’Brien’s “Almost World Famous Seven Cs” can be applied to both disciplines. If it sounds like a gimmick, well yours truly is for [...]

by David Tandet Increasing  social media has the same effect on good writing that the size of a parking structure has on nice cars: not much. Some networkers babble on in disjointed streams of consciousness. Others? Wordsmiths to the max. But when it comes to the need for effective writing in all this, there’s no [...]

by David Tandet Got a call from a colleague recently who had a big problem. As in big bio. My friend was willing to put in all the information the executive wanted, of course. But she wanted to make sure her client realized most readers were going to stop reading after the first paragraph. It’s [...]

by David Tandet Came across a terrific item by Emily (Emily’s World) on how non-profits can use the social web to spread the word. Believe it or not, the whole concept of simply “getting the message out” is not as much of a no-brainer as it might first appear. That’s because a lot of people [...]

 by David Tandet At the 2009 CES — January 8-11 in Las Vegas — thousands of content and digital entertainment professionals will be checking out the exhibits and sessions at the granddaddy of all consumer electronics shows. Does the prospect of so many new channels to inform potential and longtime buyers about goods and services [...]

 by David Tandet Samsung, the company that holds the top unit volume share in the U.S. for LCD TVs, isn’t resting on its laurels. Forward thinking product development and marketing took Samsung to number one in the first place. They haven’t forgotten that. Samsung initially put in-store displays at 2,000 U.S. retailers to educate consumers [...]

by David Tandet What do you believe? What do you do? How do you do it? Are there three questions you’d rather have answered by a charitable organization you’re considering donating to? I didn’t think so. Yet not every charitable organization or relief fund takes the direct, no tiptoe approach followed by the United Way [...]

by David Tandet Nah. Ads and PR are still different. If Stephen King loves your new novel and writes an article saying so? PR. It’s an unpaid plug that’s sure to boost public perception of your baby. Then you buy space on the 10 hottest book discussion websites quoting King’s endorsement? That’s an ad. Bought [...]

by David Tandet Branding happens. A relationship occurs between your business and consumers whether it’s the one you’re hoping for or not. Take things in the direction you want them to go. Are you a neighborhood hardware store that folks enjoy mulling around in? But you take your time on that special order? You might [...]