Training by Ian Cundell

A simple truth: Good writing reflects well on you and your business.

Better business writing

Better business writing impacts every area of your firm's image, from the sign over your front door to the instructions your customers need to use your products or services, from your business cards to your annual report.

Letters

If your letters are sloppy, that client might just find a reason to go to a competitor.

Reports

If your reports lack clarity you could make bad decisions - or worse, recommend bad decisions and be open to legal challenge.

Technical writing

If your technical writing is sub-standard, your customers may decide that your company is sub-standard.

Pitches

If your pitches are badly drafted, how will you get the job?

Press relations

Knowing what to do when the press calls - whether seeking to promote good news or manage bad news - is a skill that can be taught.

There certainly are circumstances when the skill of a good PR professional will be indispensible, but some training and a little practice can make you much less likely to freeze in the face of the 'enemy'. For the smaller business especially, when a huge PR budget is out of the question, some simple tips and tricks can make the world of difference.

Press releases

The basic tool of delivering information to the media is also one of the most poorly understood. Any news editor can share with you a rogues gallery of material that has been so poorly compiled, you would think it had been created for the sole purpose of filling their bins.

All too often, PR professionals and clients (yes, that's you) conspire to produce press releases that might as well be stamped "ignore me".

Again, this is completely avoidable.

Articles

When I was a commissioning editor I sought material from business people. The two biggest headaches were the lack of any opinion in opinion pieces (thanks, PR machine) and writing that was...well, let's just say inexperienced. Unsurprisingly, I returned most regularly to those able to supply high quality articles.

Put that another way: we often gave free half page advertisments to companies because they could consistently produce high quality articles.

Writing business articles is a skill that I can teach.