Ok…I’m not going to use this forum to write about the great debate that is going on all over the country these days.  I’m not even going to quote, what “he said”, or “she said.”   Because in all actuality, I am not sure either one of them REALLY ”said” whatever it is they are saying they said!   Did you stay with me on that one?

O.k. The Writers just came off a pretty long strike, right?  Reruns were being aired, there were no new series episodes, and even the comedians had to write their own jokes; ( funny thing, I thought what they said was ALWAYS their own material!  O.k., so I’m a gullable Comedian Viewer!! At least I still laughed at the appropriate time…if it’s funny!!)  So the writers write the jokes and the comedians make us laugh as he delivers them.

Anyway, the writers stopped production for TV…some even for movies, or documentary’s, and in the soaps, well they didn’t even need scripts what with all the bedroom scenes.  Actions speak louder than words, right?

What I want to know is what about the Political Speech Writers?

When we hear that a speech is a carbon copy of someone else’s, well, aren’t they all?  Didn’t speechwriters write the speeches??  The candidates didn’t write them, so it was a copy of  the speechwriters speech, right?

And if “silly season” has started, like a candidate said the other day during an interview, well, who is being silly the candidate or his speechwriter?  Do you think that candidate’s speechwriters sit and have a practice debate over what they wrote in order for it to be authentic?

Here is the main idea with speechmakers and speakwriters. The speechwriters are there to help the candidates support their ideas.  One such speechwriter, was quoted as saying,

“Always write something you believe for someone you believe in, especially if that someone is yourself “.  Bet you can’t guess what speechwriter said that, and who he writes for…a certain President whose speeches have not been applauded for a long, long time now.  Do you wonder what would have happened if the President had written the speeches himself?  Would it have made a difference in how our country is doing?  If it’s the speechwriters who write the speeches,  perhaps THEY should have been elected..it’s their words that are being sold.  Just something to think about..and cry about…and think about.

You found the perfect job. Your resume is perfecto, having slaved over it for hours on end. It is both modern and up-to-date. It does NOT have your main objective on the top, since that is passee; meaning, old…or a great analogy might best describe it as “a suit of rather antique appearance”. No one put’s the objective in any more. You objective is not to get hired so you can steal from the company. Your objective is not to be a secret conspirator for another company. You wouldn’t admit it certainly, if it were. So obviously, the objective is to get the job.

So your resume looks good. Spelling is correct; yes. Format is proper; yes. You didn’t tell any fibs that could someday have you fired, even if you get the job; no. It looks good whether you put it online or send it in the mail; yes. Great, then let’s move on to the cover letter.

Oh! No! The Writing Editor screams, continuing to peruse the cover letter and reads, and reads, and reads some more, shaking her head the entire time, as she reads even more! Get the idea?

“I don’t want all that information!” she sighs, as her shoulders droop in helpless abandoned. She tears the cover letter up, and tosses out the resume. “I don’t have time to teach someone this again!” she murmers to herself.

What she really means, is that the HR agent will do the same thing, toss aside, or tear up the cover letter and resume. Buried. Gone forever..and you didn’t even know it. What a waste!

Here’s the issue. You should NOT write a redundant cover letter. This means a cover letter that repeats everything your resume outlines. Human Resource people don’t have time to read it AND your resume. The middle managers certainly won’t have time to muddle through all the applicants, even if the resume makes it to them. And the final approval contact will never even see it.

A resume tells hiring agents WHAT you do, and the experience you have. You also tell them about your education and the titles you have held in the job market.

A cover letter tells people WHO you are. You are introducing yourself, and enticing them to read more about you, the person. It is written so well, they even want to know more about your work ethic and your background, so they will then continue reading and, yes, you got it, they will READ your resume!

Now there are some differentiations among cover letters. You may write a different one applying for an internship, than you would for a College Graduate Cover Letter. There are also Referral Cover Letters; Cold Contact Cover Letters; Classified Ad Response Cover Letter, and an Email Cover Letter, and so on.

Specify in that first paragraph what type of cover letter you are writing.

For example, a referral cover letter might read; “Jeff Hewitt, your contributing columnist for The Herald Newspaper, and former colleague of mine, suggested I contact you regarding the copywriter position, available in the Home and Garden section of the newspaper.

Another example; the new College Graduate who is looking for employment right out of school. This type of cover letter definitely has to portray you as the key person for the position. So you would immediately state your highly visible success in school.

For instance, “As the Valdictorian of my graduating class at Mercer University, I feel my leadership abilities, coupled with my exemplary internship recommendations, prove me a viable candidate for the Public Relations position at Kelley Advertising.”

In that one introductory paragraph, you have already told them you were Valdictorian, (top student); a degreed student; possess leadership abilities and can provide internship experience in Public Relations.

The Human Relations agent will see the best of you immediately, as a possible candidate for the position and will go on to read you resume to see what else you have to offer.

Bottom line? The Writing Editor wants the WHO on the front page, and the WHAT on the second page. The Writing Editor wants YOU to get that job! Follow that lead and you will soon have the Where?, and When? on your resume as well! Happy Cover Letter Writing.

As a writer/reporter, there is a pet peeve I have, which has bugged me since my early days of publishing, and having my own website. The pet peeve I am referring to, is regarding surfing the web, and communication with your audience. You will find that many techie’s, professionals, markets and yes, even clients, forget that their audience may NOT be computer savvy. How horrible!But nonetheless, true. We forget that many people may be coming to the computer strictly for information and not understand the computer lingo. Think about this a minute.

A student, though in the process of learning the computer, needs to look up some homework. Do you really think he knows what “link” or RSS feed means? He will use the simplest method to get the info he needs…so it may not be yours, if you always insist on being a computer “geek” as opposed to making sure that you hit as many audiences as you intended.

Another case in point. In a shopping cart website, there were so many beautiful things displayed by the artist and without a doubt, she can capture the audience’s attention with her artwork. In illustrating her artwork however, she took an icon and dressed it up with artwork and presented it for sale to her clients. Well, it was done beautifully. However, what if the person that went to her site to shop, didn’t know what that icon was, (everyone computer savvy would know) and though she might need and even want it, she didn’t know that’s what she wanted or needed. Get it?

Here’s another example. A friend of mine hired a pro to design and maintain a website. When doing the website, the pro would talk to the client in simple (maybe to you or I) computer tech language, i.e, html; css; even easy terms like blogs. Now this is great, except for one thing…We just ASSUME that the client knows these terms, when in fact, they know nothing of those terms; thus he/she may be made to feel dumb, which is something you don’t want a client to feel who is paying YOU to know the terms, not them.

There are many reasons, people may hire you. It could be for your expertise; it could be for your artistic ability; it could be because your rates are better..or, it could be because they know what you are talking about! Learn to use one sentence explanations on your websites for pertinent information that you want your audience to know…especially if your selling a product or service. Just remember, that your audience is not always going to be computer savvy geeks..that’s why they come to you! So, jump out of your mainframe, grab them by the hands and walk them through it simply…and smile as you do it. You will find they come back to you or your site, often!

B2B means Business to Business.   It is a term commonly used to explain electronic commerce transactions between businesseses.  Business and individual Consumers would be B2C and Business between Government, would be B2G.

It’s not a rigid acronym however.  It can be used as an adjective to describe the activity, like marketing or sales and ecommerce between two businesses.

For simplicity’s sake, in this blog we will be discussing the B2B of Marketing Communications

In B2B Marketing Communications businesses use different tactics beyond direct sales in promoting their products or services.

Supporting the Marketers Sales Efforts and increasing profit is the main reason for B2B Marketing.

B2B Marketing Communications include serveral target markets in the Public Relations Community.  Things like, advertising, public relations, direct mail, trade show support, branding as well as interactive services such as designing websites and providing search engine optimization, all provide the necessary tactics to promote the B2B principals.

The Business Marketing Association organization serves B2B Marketing Professionals.  It provides certification programs, research services, conferences, industry awards and training programs.

The Methods used to utilize the B2B concept is catagorized in a structured manner beginning with the Positioning Statement.  This statement clarifies what you do, how you do it and demonstrates how you can do it better than your competitiors.

Developing your messages is essential in conveying your strong points of what you do and the benefits it provides to your customers.  A second message may illustrate supporting arguments, facts or figures.

Building a Campaign Plan  You are building an investment and a comprehensive plan to target your resources and where the best returns will be delivered; and you will provide the infrastructure to support each state of the marketing process.

Briefing an Agency  - It is important to provide a brief for an agency.  You need to emphasize what your focus is, what is important to your campaign, and have it serve as a checklist of the important facts.  This brief would contain:

• Your Objectives
• Target Market
• Target Audience
• Product
• Campaign Description
• Product Positioning
• Graphical Considerations
• Corporate Guidelines and any other Supporting Documents.

Measuring Results – When the results of the campaign are measured, the true value is indicative of tying the marketing campaign back to business results.  Measure the objectives against the impact and demonstrate it either by Cost per Acquisition, Cost per Lead or changes in customer perception.

Then decide, is this to “B or not to B?”  And go from there!  Happy “B2B” to those of you reading this!  Feel free to send this article, Blog2Blog.