Ideas And Information For Professionals

What I Do First - to Make Your Business Look Great

21/10/2014

Collaboration First and Foremost

It comes as a surprise to many business owners to learn that the act of composing a written assignment takes up no more than a third of the copywriter’s time, and sometimes less. By the time I sit down at my keyboard to compile the text of an email, a case study, brochure, newsletter or white paper the bulk of my work has already been completed.

I will have spent much time consulting with the client's experts accumulating a wealth of background information about the company, the project in hand, the product or service to be promoted, the target buyer, the expected result of the project, and more.

In other words, what takes up most of the copywriter’s time is the research, the interviews and other information-gathering — even to understanding the style and tone of the written material that the client company prefers.

Get To Know The Client Company and The Project

My first task is to learn about my client Company. This includes becoming familiar with the industry within which it operates, its structure, its ethos and how the Company management pictures the enterprise itself.

My initial step will be to meet an executive or senior manager who possesses experience of working in the Company and who associates closely with it. He or she will be able to give me an overview of the Company and its activities. I will also need to learn the tone of the Company’s ‘voice’ in its written documentation. If a style-guide exists, this should give me a good idea of what syntax and English usage the company prefers.

My next step will be to interview those members of staff who are most intimately involved in the project — the experts who can describe with most clarity and depth what features the product possesses, and what benefits flow from those features. Does the product have a unique attribute that distinguishes it from the competition? How has the product performed during its trials, and what problems have arisen? What steps has the Company taken to overcome those problems? What customer support does the Company offer post-purchase, and what warranties are attached to the product?

There will be a host of additional enquiries I will need to make, of which the major ones are:

What is the nature of the project?

What copywriting assignments will the project include — perhaps a combined press release, product brochure and white paper?

Will the Company engage a graphic designer? (The design and layout aspects of the promotional document are best assigned to a specialist).

Who is the targeted readership

Has there been a similar project in the past? What were the results? (I shall need access to the documentation relating to the earlier project).

What is the subject-matter of the project — the product or service?

Has its development been fully completed?

Do I need to consult with any other experts to fully understand the nature of the project and its subject-matter?

What are the anticipated results of the project?

What is the deadline for the project campaign, and how soon before that deadline will the finalised copy be required?

Research and Research

The copywriter needs to acquire as much knowledge about the product as possible in the time available before the deadline for the copy’s submission. The project team can suggest sources of information from within the Company where internal memos, technical documents, product specifications, engineering drawings, business and marketing plans, reports and proposals reside.

Where the product is a further development of an existing model, there will be plentiful sources of data, reviews, customer feedback and trade articles outside the Company.

An acquired familiarity with the product enables the copywriter to describe with greater technical detail and competence its features, new or improved, and the corresponding benefits to the user. When writing the promotional text, I will need to substantiate with hard evidence whatever claims I make about the product or service. When independent reviewers have tested it and have objectively assessed its utility, those views will carry weight in the eyes of prospective buyers and will add credence to my white paper, email or brochure.

The Product Document

As a general rule, and regardless of the nature of the promotional material to be written, my copy will contain references to the following aspects of the product or service:

Purpose. Its name, and a description of its function.

Features. Components and their uses, especially innovations that give an advantage in efficiency, running costs, performance, safety and environmental impact.

Benefits. The advantages to the user, especially those that are unique. These give added value to the product’s features compared with the competition.

Compatibility. The ease with which the product operates within existing systems and regimes, and the extent to which the product avoids any associated operating changes.

Stand-Alone Operation. The extent and degree to which the product functions without the need for ‘optional extras’. If add-ons are required for improved performance, is the product available in configurations that include them?

Trial Usage. If the Company offers to demonstrate the product’s uses, mode of operation, safety features and requirements, the prospect will need to know what arrangements have been put in place.

Cost. The price to be paid for the standard model, and the differences in price dependent on early or postponed settlement, or by instalments. Similarly, for variant models.

Method of Purchase. If the purchase is online, what is the website address? It should contain a detailed enquiry form to facilitate the purchase. If through the sales department, the Company should give the name and contact details of the person responsible. The product name and number should be stated, together with any discount code. The aim is to make the purchase procedure as trouble-free as possible.

I Am An Equal-Opportunity Copywriter

I apply the same degree of application, thoroughness and attention to detail, no matter whether I am writing text for a fold-over brochure or a white paper of 10,000 words. Size does not matter, as far as I am concerned; and that applies to my Company client as well. I wish to do the very best that I can whether I have been hired by a publicly-listed company or a small family business.

The greater the effort I apply in garnering background information and understanding the product or service, the stronger and more credible will be my copy. That will be good for my client, and frankly it will be good for me too. I obtain a great deal of personal satisfaction from knowing I have done my very best in compiling an informative and persuasive piece of writing, written in clear and concise English, and which is accurate and thorough. That is what providing a professional service is all about.

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Do You Know Enough About Your Customers?

15/9/2014

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The Business - Customer Relationship

I wanted to add the word ‘Recognise’ as well as ‘Know’ to the heading to this post, but then I realised I could go on and also add ‘Understand’. If I did so, that would turn the headline into a questionnaire. Nevertheless, each of those words does represent an element of a strategy that a business needs to implement in order to succeed.

You can look at it this way - every business depends for its success on acquiring and then cultivating its customers or clients. To do so requires establishing and developing relationships with them. That involves knowing, recognising and understanding each one. It is not enough to draw up a ‘customer service’ policy that sets out the standards by which the business will carry out its work. As necessary as such a policy is, it overlooks how the company will acknowledge and treat the individual customer. I make this point because, from my own experience as a solo entrepreneur, I recognise it is not always understood how necessary it is to regularly reach out to your customers or clients in order to keep attuned to their expectations and requirements.

Nurturing and Cultivating

I am not suggesting that a business is unlikely to recognise the connection between its customer-base and profitability. What I am seeking to emphasise is that you should recognise the importance of focusing upon your customers or clients in a selective way. They do not comprise a homogeneous group. If they did, the task of maintaining a relationship with them would be made easy - you would need only to establish a simple, unsophisticated program of identical direct emails and newsletters.

But that won’t do in a world of wider and instant information-gathering, where it has become so important for a business to distinguish itself from the competition. It is of little purpose to claim superior expertise because quality standards are rising in all spheres generally. Do you rely on your heritage and your established reliability? That’s ok if you have a history of good work, but it does not assist the recent start-up. In any event, proof of past performance is not a guarantee for the future.

How then to spotlight your special strengths? The simple truth is that people welcome attention and useful information that is given on a regular basis. Let your business be known for maintaining an informative and enquiring relationship with your clients. Be the business that most actively seeks feedback about how you met your client’s expectations. Make a point of enquiring about what other services he or she might look for in the future. Differentiate between clients according to their wants and expectations, and by doing so you will nurture and cultivate a fuller relationship. Keep your clients informed of your services or products and what initial assistance or advice you can offer without charge.

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Writing Clearly Is Not Always Plain and Simple

24/8/2014

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Introduction

The Plain Language Advocates group in LinkedIn has recently been discussing the absence of plain English in legal documents. The legal profession, of course, is renowned in every culture worldwide for the convoluted language it uses in its writings. It is accused of seeking to obscure from the general public what it really means to say by employing legalese and Latin maxims not generally known to the man-in-the-street.

If I was to suggest this is a mistaken belief and that the lawyers are badly maligned, I would probably be rounded upon with howls of derision. In part, those howls would be justified. But only to an extent. Certainly, verbose and convoluted language is difficult to read, and any author is duty-bound to aid the reader in understanding his text.

Simplicity -v- Accuracy

However, the law draftsman often faces a dilemma when having to choose between simplicity and accuracy. What is written simply can easily fail to provide a fully comprehensive statement about a legal matter despite its appearing to be comprehensible. By that I mean everyday expressions, when used in a legal context, can have a definition both wider and more subtle than a layman might believe. So the lawyer must ensure that, when confronted with expressions that possess a common meaning and at the same time hold a specific legal constitution, he takes the precaution of expanding on the colloquial usage to encompass its full legal significance.

For Instance...

To illustrate what I mean, I have taken two words from the current Consumer Affairs Act of Western Australia, which covers matters relating to consumer protection. The words are in common usage but within the Act each has a prescribed meaning, which either goes beyond what is generally understood or includes matters that might surprise you. They are:

· Supply (of goods)

Under the Act supply has the usual and expected meanings associated with the word in everyday speech, such as to sell, exchange, lease and hire. In addition, it also includes the ‘exhibition’ of goods for sale, exchange, etc.

In other words, when a motor dealer places a car in his showroom for people to view and admire he is understood to supply the car to a viewer. I doubt very much whether the regular driver realised his car had been supplied to him before he had chosen it. But for the purposes of consumer protection it is thought better for the meaning of supply to encompass wider acts by a seller than is commonly used. This is a benefit to the consumer. But for a lawyer who advises a client who displays his goods to the public, the legal interpretation of the word under the Act poses an obligation to go beyond merely simple language

· Consumer

We are all consumers at one time or another, in the sense of acquiring goods and services, and the Act includes such persons who purchase, hire or lease, or borrow money to do those things. In addition, the Act includes house buyers and tenants.

What might not be understood by the average shop keeper or real estate agent is that the Act envisages a potential consumer falling within the consumer ranks.

Now I have not practiced consumer protection law, but I imagine the courts of Western Australia have taken it upon themselves to explain what constitutes a potential consumer. Perhaps he or she is a ‘browser’ inside the shop inspecting the goods on display or a ‘window shopper’, or merely someone who has the thought of buying something. I don’t know. Clearly the Act casts its ‘consumer’ net widely, and the advisory lawyer to a business man who serves consumers would be wise to ensure his client knows the full extent of the net.

It's A Two-Step Process, Not One

It seems to me that the debate surrounding the legal profession and its avoidance of plain, lucid language has focused too much on the errant use of legalese. So long as ‘affidavit’, ‘ultra vires’, ‘heretofore’ ‘ lodgement of claim’ and the like are off the page and have been replaced with simple words more generally understood, it seems to be argued that all will be well.

I hope I have illustrated that this is a simplistic approach. I believe a further, simultaneous step needs to be taken – an acknowledgement that within legalese lies the essential meaning of the law because it bears the recognition of the courts, and that simplicity of language alone is not the key to a proper understanding of its intent.

If I may suggest an IT analogy, legalese is akin to the HTML code used to build a website. Its transformation into the text and other webpage content is the plain, clear language that we all wish to read. You don’t see the code because it is hidden, but it is essential to the creation of the webpage and without it there would be nothing to read.

Nick Fielden Copywriter

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Do You Make These Mistakes When Seeking New Clients?

15/7/2014

I Am A Professional And You’re A Layman

No matter that this sub-heading is correct, nevertheless just forget it.

“But why”, you may ask, “should I simply set aside the knowledge and skills I spent years acquiring?”.

Well, I don’t mean you should ignore what you’ve learnt; in fact, I insist that you use those accomplishments to persuade your reader that your firm is their problem-solver and that he or she need look no further.

What I mean instead is that your reader, your prospective client, does not need to hear how well-respected your firm is, nor how long it has been established. You will fail to impress with assurances of high professional ethics, your enthusiasm and efficiency, and how good you are at practicing your profession.

Believe it or not, your lay reader already assumes you’re suitably qualified to do the job he or she needs to have done. There is no need to claim to be an expert in your field –your website visitor takes your expertise for granted. And every client expects that you will act properly and honestly.

First And Foremost I Need To List The Firm’s Services

“Well”, I hear you retort, “surely the reader needs to know the extent of services the firm offers”. Well actually, no.

Most members of the public who seek your assistance will not want to scan through the firm’s specialisms. They will probably not be sure precisely what each covers, nor within which category their particular problem falls.

What you do need to make clear immediately a visitor lands on your website is the general nature of your firm’s activities. The reader will then have an idea whether or not you’re likely to be of help.

If you run an architectural practice, for instance, you need to state the nature and scale of the buildings and structures that you design. Are they residential, commercial, industrial or all three? Do you emphasise the need for ‘green’ design factors to be incorporated, such as energy efficiency and low carbon emissions?

If yours is a law firm, do you act for the individual and family, and the small business? Do you prepare wills and handle the client’s affairs after they die? Do you act in the sale and purchase of property? Are you employment lawyers, criminal lawyers or personal injury lawyers? Do you act for married or de facto couples whose relationships have broken down? Are you corporate and finance specialists?

Let the visitor know as soon as possible whether he or she has found the right place. Do it in ways that assist the prospective client by giving broad pointers in words he or she will readily understand.

They will thank you for it.

I Need To Impress My Clients With Erudition

I suppose I shouldn’t complain at the apparent compulsion of many professional practitioners to fill their writings with jargon and terms of art. After all, it’s my bread and butter to explain and correct this self-defeating and needless habit.

Lawyers, especially, are renowned for it. It seems that whenever I open a legal firm’s website its text is infiltrated with language that obscures its meaning, trades on esoteric jargon, and confuses the lay reader.

It seems few solicitors can wait to unleash a quill pen on the parchment and proceed to cover the page with 'testamentary dispositions', 'letters of administration', 'affidavits', 'injunctions' and 'plaintiff' or 'defendant'.

These expressions of legalese go on and on, wrapped in the heavy solemnity of jurisprudence.

Dickens tried his best to illustrate how impenetrable are the processes of the law, but he failed to convince lawyers that a better way exists when it comes to communicating with clients.

Professionals are highly-trained and skilled in their particular fields, Their level of knowledge and technical expertise rises over time as innovations and new techniques necessitate a programme of continuing professional development. This daily immersion in the intricacies of their individual areas of expertise tends to alienate them from their lay clients.

There are some firms who recognise that what is put into a Statement of Claim to the court may not be appropriate language when writing on the internet. But so often assurances that they adhere to plain English are quickly forgotten, as if they simply can't break the habit.

I have written more extensively on the need to use plain English when communicating with clients in my musings Plain English and Written Clarity.

I Have No Need Of A Copywriter To Secure New Clients

“Why should I consider working with a copywriter?”, I hear you ask. “I can write text for the firm’s website perfectly well, just as can my staff. I would be unnecessarily adding to my costs to hire an outsider.”

Of course, you’re right – up to a point. But drafting a technical document or preparing a set of accounts requires skills that are very different from writing persuasive copy that will target your prospective client and make him or her want to read on, to learn more about your firm.

You see, first and foremost a client wants a problem-solver. He knows that he requires the skills of a professional but he does not need to know the intricacies involved. So copy for your website should reassure the reader that if the problem falls within your field of expertise you will solve that problem. Peace of mind is what a prospective client is looking for. That is an important distinction that needs to be understood.

Different skills to those of the professional practitioner are required to show your visitor that you understand his or her needs, that you’re ready and waiting to assist them and to persuade them to take the next step towards giving you instructions. A good copywriter possesses those skills.

When it comes to the cost of hiring a copywriter, you need only compare what you would forego in fees were you to spend the time drafting the copy yourself. Don’t forget, a copywriter will include within his fee an initial draft of the end-product and an agreed number of revisions. And, of course, there will be a deadline for submitting the final version.

Your copywriter will request extensive information about your firm and about the characteristics of the clients who have sought your services. The copywriter will want to know who your competitors are, how you differ and what particular benefits you can offer that distinguish you from them.

You may say that you already possess all that information, and it would only add to costs to brief an outsider. But don’t forget, that to paint a true picture of your firm, and to identify the full extent of the advantages you hold over your competitors, requires an objective pair of eyes and ears.

An outsider who knows what questions to ask, and who writes copy about your firm that attracts visitors to read more, will very soon become an insider whom you will learn to trust.

In fact, it does take a copywriter to know what words and writing style are required to attract the attention of the reader and to lead him or her to take the necessary action to seek your services.

Nick Fielden Copywriter www.nickfielden.com.au

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Written Clarity

1/6/2014

Introduction

If you have something to say, a message you wish to pass to another, it is unwise to muddy your text with words that obscure their meaning. Words need to be chosen for the ease with which the reader understands them. Don't use words that are ambiguous or stilted, stiff or pompous — they will not be received sympathetically. A reader does not willingly read what lacks the simple facts that plain clarity contains.

A Clear Message Gives A Focused Image

Expressions that confirm clear diction or clear meaning are enthusiastic. They emphasise the positive: the wireless operator shouts enthusiastically that he hears you loud and clear; that there was no disturbance over the airwaves, that there was no interference in the signal. “Message received and understood.” - the procedure was a success because each aspect, every component was clear.

The same applies to the visual. A photograph is said to be picture-perfect if it depicts exactly what the viewer anticipates. The pictured he visualised in his head is confirmed by the recorded image. True, a photograph may not represent reality – it may even deceive – but with perfect focus it exposes itself to scrutiny, and the deception may well be self-revealing.

An idea contained within an image must be as clear as daylight. The viewer is anxious to understand, to obtain meaning, inspiration and knowledge. He would like to say, “I see what you mean”. He wants to get it.

Familiarity Breeds Comprehension

On the page, an idea is contained in the written words. Each one of those words serves its individual purpose. Its role is to contribute to the totality of the idea. If any word is misused or is out of place, it clouds the intended meaning.

A sentence, a paragraph or a chapter can be misjudged or misinterpreted if the words chosen by the writer are not readily picked up by the reader. The words must be familiar. The reader must feel at home with them if he is to read on. The writer is therefore only a word or two, a sentence at most, from losing his reader’s willingness, his desire, to continue. Plain writing instills comprehension which, when you think about it, is what a reader expects before all else.

By either the voice or the written word, we rely on clarity to comprehend. Your website message, your newsletter, email or your brochure must be crafted so it is understood as you intended. Its structure, its content, its emphasis must all be apparent on first reading.

There is no room for doubt on the web. The reader rapidly scans your page, flicking through the text. What you give him to absorb must be unambiguous - in that way the written text will throw light on an empty space.

Craft Your Message With One Reader In Mind

Here is the most important thing to recognise – your words, carefully chosen for their precision, must also be written for your particular reader. He will usually be a layman, unfamiliar with the technical language of your profession or specialism. He or she will feel uncomfortable, intimidated even, by a writing style that contains jargon. Jargon is not user-friendly. It is the 'slang' of the specialist, and it is with the specialist that it should remain. Your reader needs to feel at home in your company; do not make him feel a stranger.

This can be difficult to accept, I know. The use of plain, common and ordinary words to convey your message can seem a poor relation to the language with which a professional is familiar. After all, you may argue, my business is not ordinary, in the sense that it is not understood widely and commonly. How can I persuade a prospective client that I am a skilled professional if I explain myself in words of common usage?

The answer is that unless you do speak to your prospective client on equal terms, very soon you will alienate him. He or she may imagine they are compelled to accept advice conveyed in language they do not fully understand. But as soon as they learn of a competitor of yours who does speak without technicalities or terms of art, you will find you have lost them. Your client will appreciate your professionalism when you demonstrate you know how plain words are the best communicators.

Nick Fielden

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Remote Working For Professional Businesses

23/5/2014

How Green Strategies Can Help Keep You In The Black

Introduction

Remote access technologies exist that perform various tasks for businesses both large and small. They enable branch offices to utilise systems at the head office; mobile staff can access and upload information from remote locations such as a hotel room or the client’s office; they can also allow staff to work remotely from home and access documents, emails and applications on the company’s server.

Green Strategies and Employee Benefits of Remote Working

In the same way remote access technologies can provide software service support without the need for a technician to drive to the client’s location, so your staff can remain at their domestic or other work station.

A staff member who leaves the car parked in the carport is doing a favour to the planet by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and airborne particulate pollution. One less vehicle on the freeway to the city is one step towards reducing congestion. Multiplied hundreds of times by other business employees staying off the road helps reduce the stress of driving suffered by other commuters. Travel time and fuel costs are saved; the vehicle will incur less wear and tear; parts will require replacement less often and visits to the service station will be less frequent.

There is a general consensus in the business world and among researchers that those who undertake remote working enjoy benefits to their well-being not shared by their office-bound colleagues. These include:

A less hectic start to the working day. The commute to work, by either private or public transport, costs the employee both time, money and a degree of aggravation that only increases as the freeways and the trains or buses become more congested over time. To be spared that commute allows the remote worker to enjoy enhanced freedom from stress, which can only prepare him better for the day’s labours ahead. He or she will also enjoy more time with spouse and children or, if single, he or she will enjoy more flexibility in arranging time with friends.

Working hours for the remote employee can become more flexible, so he or she is not subject to clock-constrained periods of attendance in the office. So long as the necessary work is completed in a timely fashion, it matters little to the company when that work was carried out. Meanwhile, the employee may deal with unexpected events on the domestic front. If he needs to sit at the computer into the night or early morning in order to make up time, there is no difficulty in doing so. As a consequence the employee manages to juggle office and domestic matters in a co-ordinated way that minimises stress and utilises available time more efficiently.

Staff who are more stress-free and relaxed tend to be more motivated in their work. Not only is this a benefit to the employer, but, as I imagine all of us recognise, if we look forward to doing a good a job to the best of our ability we complete the task with a sense of satisfaction. This can only add to one’s sense of well-being.

While staff well-being might not at first appear to fall within ‘green’ benefits, it is surely true that a more contented and motivated employee, who is spared the ordeal of commuting, will require fewer visits to the GP on account of stress and stress-related illnesses. That means a smaller call on resources required to counter that stress or other illness, such as the prescribing of medicines, blood tests, scans, etc. All these procedures consume finite resources that will be saved if an employee’s working regime is conducive to greater health.

Benefits of Remote Working for The Employer

Improved Productivity

Typically, commuters in developed countries spend over an hour per working day travelling to and from their workplace. According to studies in 2011 by the OECD and United States Census Bureau (as reported in The Economist magazine) your staff-member who walks from his or her kitchen to the study to turn on the computer will have already spent an extra 6.25% working time than his commuting colleagues when they sit down at their desks. (This assumes the remote employee continues working until the office staff leave after an 8-hour working day). In fact, remote staff stationed at home are less likely to be clock-watchers, and more concerned with finishing the task in hand.

In 2013 Stanford University conducted a study of Shanghai call-centre staff working from home. (Does Working From Home Work? Evidence From A Chinese Experiment ). The study found that staff productivity increased beyond the mere extra hours worked. According to the study paper,

The performance of the home workers went up dramatically, increasing by 13% over the nine months of the experiment. This improvement came mainly from a 9% increase in the number of minutes they worked during their shifts (i.e., the time they were logged in to take calls). This was due to a reduction in breaks and sick-days taken by the home workers. The remaining 4% improvement came from home workers increasing the number of calls per minute worked. In interviews the workers attributed this gain to the quieter working conditions at home.

Reduced Employee Attrition

One of the reasons the Chinese company was interested in the study was because the turnover rate among call-centre staff had consistently remained around 50% per year, which was typical of the call centre industry in China. Training a new worker cost about six weeks’ salary, and there were additional costs of advertising, and vetting and interviewing new employees. Shortly after the commencement of the study, the attrition rate among remote workers fell below that of office-bound staff, and the difference was statistically significant. By the end of the experiment, the total attrition rate among the remote workers (17%) was less than half of that among the other staff (35%).

On the other side of the same coin there is a related benefit to the employer: the market for potential employees grows considerably if the job will be carried out remotely; distance from home to place of work is no longer a consideration for the prospective employee. This not only gives the employer a greater selection of candidates but provides the opportunity to single out more who are highly qualified. With a larger pool of job-seekers to choose from, the number of elite candidates is likely to increase proportionately.

Reduced Fixed Overheads

Staff who work from home do not occupy office space, thus enabling the company, upon lease renewal, to either rent a smaller area of space or (if permitted) to sublet the freed-up office area. Savings in rental and building management charges can be significant for companies in prime locations.

There will commensurate savings in the cost of office furniture and equipment, utilities, stationery, building taxes and even cleaning expenses. Of course, the additional costs incurred by the employee working from home will need to be reimbursed by the company. These would include:

obtaining authority for the home to be used in part for business purposes, and any associated increase in domestic taxes;
a proportion of any rent paid by the employee, or equivalent rental value;
any increased home and contents insurance premiums on account of the business use;
increased utility and heating costs;
a charge for use of the employee’s equipment and furniture.

No doubt the company would seek to offset these charges against the savings in travel costs to the employee.

Some Disadvantages of Remote Working

While I have emphasised the benefits of remote working, there are nevertheless some potential disadvantages for both the employer and employee:

productivity will not necessarily improve if the employee is found to be inadequately self-disciplined when unsupervised. This problem, however, can be quickly identified by the use of tracking and recording software that monitors when the employee is active on the computer, and stores data that will translate into productivity figures.
an employee who, having been accustomed to the company of office colleagues, may find the solitary life of a remote worker to be a lonely existence. Some staff need the proximity of others to motivate them in their work. Where creativity is an important element in the operations of a department, staff may well function at a higher level of motivation and imagination if they are in the company of others whom they can bounce ideas off. An otherwise imaginative employee could find his or her inventiveness drying up if left without the stimulus that the company and co-operation of like-minded colleagues offers. Here, technology will not be of much help. Instead, the departmental head must closely and personally monitor any such member of staff to ensure lethargy or discontedness doesn’t creep in.
security of company information and statistics may be at risk. Again, technology can come to the rescue - for instance, confidential documents can be encrypted so that only staff with the necessary key can decode the contents.

Summary

Remote working can be a revitalising innovation for a small business. For some companies it rapidly has a positive effect on output, and offers tangible cost savings so that revenue figures increase and invigorate the balance sheet bottom line. For others, the promise of improved staff morale and an upward drive in the company’s performance may not materialise, not in the short term at least.

It would be wise for the decision-makers to take a cautionary approach. Most important of all, the company should take active steps to ensure that the views of all those who will be involved in the change of working arrangements are listened to. It will involve a confidence-building exercise on the part of management.

However, no matter how limited or otherwise the scheme is initially, it is fair to say
remote working will increasingly grow as a game-changing and flexible way of running a small business.

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Nick Fielden Copywriter www.nickfielden.com.au

Plain Language

15/4/2014

The Hallmark Of A Controversial English Judge
Who Would Not Allow The Law To Get In The Way Of Justice

A brief introduction to the background and character of the man, the subject of this piece, would be useful I think.

He deserves more space than I devote to him here as he was a man of contrasts: of incongruous libertarianism while prejudiced towards early black immigrants sitting as jurors (he suspected they lacked familiarity with English customs and culture) ; he was a stuffy conservative who upheld the property rights of unmarried couples. Where he saw fit he was a contrarian fighting for the rights of the ordinary man, especially when disadvantaged by social or financial circumstances.

If he observed a defect in the law that caused injustice, he did not hesitate to contrive a well-reasoned argument for overturning it. Above all, he wished to make the law understandable by the use of precise and plain English.

It is seldom that the name of an English judge is, in his day, as well known as those of politicians and celebrities. Indeed, Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls, was a celebrity. What’s more, it was a status he did not shy from.

He first came to public recognition during the Profumo Affair of the early 1960s. This notorious scandal involved a Harley Street osteopath, Stephen Ward, who introduced a Government Minister, John Profumo, for sex with a young attractive woman, Christine Keeler, and a Soviet Naval Attaché, Captain Yevgeny Ivanoy, who was in a relationship with Keeler.

Profumo lied to the British Parliament about the affair and, when found out, was forced to resign in a storm of espionage and scapegoating. The osteopath, Ward, was charged with living off immoral earnings (of which there was scant evidence). When giving testimony in the trial the young woman, Keeler, revelled in the publicity, denouncing her erstwhile sugar daddy. Ward committed suicide. Some still claim it was murder by the security services and, after all these years, the matter remains unresolved and under official review. The Soviet Naval Attaché, Ivanoy, was recalled to Moscow before the tangled affair became public knowledge.

The Government appointed Denning to submit a report on the matter, concentrating on the scurrilous rumours surrounding the affair. The 70,000-word ‘Denning Report’ was published for public consumption in September 1963 and became an instant best seller.

A Brief Biography

Alfred Thompson ‘Tom’ Denning was born in the southern English county of Hampshire at the beginning of the last year of the 19th century; he died in the last year of the twentieth. As good a span of life, you might say, that any man or woman could reasonably expect and which most of us are denied. His beginnings were lowly - he was born into the family of a draper, one of six children.

Throughout his years of education and tuition Denning relied upon the award of scholarships and bursaries to take up his school place, his admission to university and to the Inns of Court to train as a barrister. He was very bright, earning separate first class degrees in pure mathematics and in law at Magdalen College, Oxford and winning top place in his Bar exams.

Denning could have avoided military service during the First World War on account of a weak heart. However, Denning was a willing recruit and successfully enlisted. He survived WW1 and on demobilisation he completed his interrupted studies at Oxford. He saw his future as a research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford but came unstuck when his pronunciation of Latin was held to be inadequate. Just as well, say many, as academia’s loss was undoubtedly the judiciary’s gain.

The judgments of Lord Denning are well worth reading because of the development of the law that he pursued in such areas as trusts, the powers of public bodies, contract and tort. He was elevated to the House of Lords, the highest court of appeal, but he soon saw the position of Law Lord as too constraining: he would sit with four fellow Lord Laws so that his individual influence was diluted. Moreover, he became frustrated with the insufficient number of cases submitted for final appeal.

When the position of Master of the Rolls became vacant he made known his willingness to ‘step down’ and put his name forward. The Master of the Rolls heads the Court of Appeal. The number of appeal cases was large and varied. Denning could choose which case to sit on, and to select the two other judges who would accompany him. He would be in the driver’s seat.

But rather than describing Lord Denning’s undoubted (and often controversial) contribution to the common law, this musing is aimed at revealing his love of plain language that spoke directly to the public without legalese, without jargon.

A Case In Point

I have chosen to reproduce verbatim a part of his judgment in a case that I have no doubt he chose deliberately to hear. It includes elements of his life that were significant to him as a Hampshire man — a rural village, the game of cricket and the importance of the local cricket club in binding a village community together.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE

COURT OF APPEAL

ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION

DURHAM DISTRICT REGISTRY

Royal Courts of Justice
6th April 1977

B e f o r e :
__________________

THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS (Lord Denning)

LORD JUSTICE GEOFFREY LANE

and

LORD JUSTICE CUMMING-BRICE

MILLER -v- JACKSON
____________________________
Crown Copyright ©

THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS: In the summer time village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its own cricket field where the young men play and the old men watch. In the village of Lintz in the County of Durham they have their own ground, where they have played these last seventy years. They tend it well. The wicket area is well rolled and mown. The outfield is kept short. It has a good club-house for the players and seats for the onlookers. The village team play there on Saturdays and Sundays. They belong to a league, competing with neighbouring villages. On other evenings after work they practice while the light lasts. Yet now after these 70 years a Judge of the High Court has ordered that they must not play there anymore. He has issued an injunction to stop them. He has done it at the instance of a newcomer who is no lover of cricket. This newcomer has built, or has had built for him, a house on the edge of the cricket ground which four years ago was a field where cattle grazed. The animals did not mind the cricket. But now this adjoining field has been turned into a housing estate. The newcomer bought one of the houses on the edge of the cricket ground. No doubt the open space was a selling point. Now he complains that, when a batsman hits a six, the ball has been known to land in his garden or on or near his house. His wife has got so upset about it that they always go out at weekends. They do not go into the garden when cricket is being played. They say this is intolerable. So they asked the Judge to stop the cricket being played. And the Judge, I am sorry to say, feels that the cricket must be stopped: with consequences, I suppose, that the Lintz cricket club will disappear. The cricket ground will be turned to some other use. I expect for more houses or a factory. The young men will turn to other things instead of cricket. The whole village will be much the poorer. And all this because of a newcomer who has just bought a house there next to the cricket ground.

I must say I am surprised the developers of the housing estate were allowed to build the houses so close to the cricket ground. No doubt they wanted to make the most of their site and put up as many houses as they could for their own profit. The planning authorities ought not to have allowed it. The houses ought to have been so sited as not to interfere with the cricket. But the houses have been built and we have to reckon with the consequences.

Denning goes on to argue a case in law:

I would, therefore, adopt this test: Is the use by the cricket club of this ground for playing cricket a reasonable use of it? To my mind it is a most reasonable use. Just consider the circumstances. For over 70 years the game of cricket has been played on this ground to the greater benefit of the community as a whole, and to the injury of none. No one could suggest that it was a nuisance to the neighbouring owners simply because an enthusiastic batsman occasionally hit a ball out of the ground for six to the approval of the admiring onlookers. Then I would ask: Does it suddenly become a nuisance because one of the neighbours chooses to build a house on the very edge of the ground - in such a position that it may well be struck by the ball on the rare occasion when there is a hit for six? To my mind the answer is plainly No. The building of the house does not convert the playing of cricket into a nuisance when it was not so before. If and in so far as any damage is caused to the house or to anyone in it, it is because of the position in which it was built. Suppose that the house had not been built by a developer, but by a private owner. He would be in much the same position as the farmer who previously put his cows in the field. He could not complain if a batsman hit a six out of the ground - and by a million to one chance- it struck a cow or even the farmer himself. He would be in no better position than a spectator at Lord’s or the Oval or at a motor rally. At any rate, even if he could claim damages for the loss of a cow or the injury, he could not get an injunction to stop the cricket. If the private owner could not get an injunction, neither should a developer or a purchaser from him.

What impresses me about this almost lyrical judgment by Denning is that he writes in a conversational style that makes the reader feel he is addressing them alone. You could be sitting beside him while he explains events like a storyteller, in words that are clear, to the point and readily understood. You are left in no doubt why he opposes the claim by the house-owner. You may not agree with his view but you are left in no doubt why he held it.

As it happened, his fellow judges did not agree with Denning although the claim for an injunction was dismissed. Instead, the cricket club was required to pay £400 in damages for nuisance caused to the house-owner. But Denning’s preferred outcome was, nevertheless, achieved: the Lintz cricket club was not prevented from playing on their designated cricket ground, and life in the village was to that extent allowed to continue as it had done for a century past. Most would agree, I think, that a greater justice was done.

Obituary Tributes

Denning's judgments in case after case performed the feat, achieved by no other judge, of speaking directly and compellingly to ordinary people in well-constructed and lucid prose. Concepts which lawyers had struggled to articulate, clashes of doctrine which seemed insoluble, would emerge in his judgments as crystalline statements of principle. The Guardian, Saturday 6 March 1999 14.05 AEST

Denning's style, whether in his judgments or in his books, was always simple, clear, vigorous and direct. He used short sentences in which adjectives, sometimes even verbs, were at a premium; and he liked to present the facts in the form of a story. The Telegraph 12:01AM GMT 06 Mar 1999

_______________________________________

Lord Irvine of Lairg then Lord Chancellor, said that the name
of Denning was a ‘byword for the law itself. His judgments were models
of simple English which ordinary people understood’
Cambridge Scholars

__________________________________________

Lord Donaldson, his successor as Master of the Rolls, said that Lord Denning was ‘always looking to see whether the law could be improved and had a particular regard to those whom he regarded as the underdog. He was a very great communicator, and put forward his views in words which the ordinary man in the street could fully understand, and which the tabloid reporter could report’.
Cambridge Scholars

_____________________________________________

1 I went back to Oxford for a day or two to try for that most coveted of academic awards - a fellowship at All Souls. I could answer the legal questions all right, but we had to read Latin aloud. My pronounciation (sic) was mixed between the old and the new. That did not suit that stronghold of classicists. So I joined the distinguished company of ‘Failed All Souls’! Like the more numerous company of ‘Failed BA’.
- Lord Denning The Family Story [London 1981] pp 38-39.

This admission deserves comparison with a sketch performed by Peter Cook, ‘Sitting on the Bench’:

“Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judgin'. I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams. They’re noted for their rigour. People came staggering out saying, ‘My God, what a rigorous exam’ - and so I became a miner instead. A coal miner. I managed to get through the mining exams - they’re not very rigorous. They only ask one question. They say, ‘Who are you?’, and I got 75% for that."
- Peter Cook Sitting On The Bench [Fortune Theatre 1961]
Tragically I Was Born An Only Twin - The Complete Peter Cook ed. William Cook. [London 2002] p 45.

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Why A Newsletter Is So Good For Professionals - Part II

4/11/2013

What Has The Newsletter Ever Given Us?

Benefits, Dear Boy, Benefits

In Part I of this musing I referred to the technological advances that have enabled the newsletter of old to be both published and delivered by means that have transformed it.

From a paper-printed sheet tucked into an envelope and made available to the reader some day or two later courtesy of the friendly postie, today's electronic newsletter exists as an easily edited and instantaneously transferred message, almost cost-free, with greater impact than its hard copy predecessor.

Having said that, the benefits of the newsletter to the professional have remained largely unchanged. Such as...

The Personal Touch

Well, for a start, it directs information to the individual reader. If you have researched the characteristics of those persons or businesses that make up your client base, you can select information that is of particular interest to targeted segments. By doing so, you more accurately and efficiently disseminate that information.

We are talking here about your firm's success - the areas of expertise that your professional staff specialise in, the flexibility with which your clients can make use of those services and the degree of attention you give to individual clients that distinguishes your firm from your competitors. The newsletter has always possessed that peculiar, distinctive and personal characteristic.

Swim with the Big Fish

Thanks to the email's inherent egalitarian nature, every newsletter delivered to an individual inbox has an equal chance of being read. Neither size nor wealth of business will give an advantage. Content is the key. Every newsletter compiler will be judged upon the quality of his writing - it must be relevant and it must resonate with the reader. The sole practitioner ranks along side the macho city firm when it comes textual performance.

Metrics Mirror

As every newsletter is identifiable in respect of the target reader, the effectiveness of each can be easily and accurately assessed. The newspaper ad and promotional radio broadcast are like scatter-guns aiming at a mass audience. The newsletter, by contrast, is the equivalent of the sniper's rifle. What is more, every hit by the sniper can be identified and analysed.

If a reader has responded to an invitation contained within the newsletter, the reader's details are known and conclusions can be drawn about what items are of interest to that reader. Collectively, readers' responses can reveal in more general terms what topics should be covered in newsletters, and the amount of space each topic should occupy. The extent and detail to which newsletter responses can be scrutinised are pretty well boundless.

Relationship Builder

Probably the most significant benefit for the professional service provider, in the long run, is the opportunity of establishing and retaining a business relationship with the firm's clientele. To some extent a website will perform the same function. But the content of the firm's website will tend to remain more static than that of the firm's newsletter.

A newsletter should be published not less than once a month. Each issue will contain fresh information on topics not recently covered. Thus the newsletter acts as its name suggests: it is a regular, current and vibrant medium by which the professional firm can present itself; it aims to attract new clients and to underline to existing clients the strength and quality of its services.

The extent to which the newsletter succeeds in these aims will be gauged by the degree of reader interest. Relevant, informative, clearly written content is the best means of generating that interest. Readers who comment on the content, who take up offers or who give feedback are interested and engaged. It is those people who will want to hire the services of your professional firm, and who will become your clients.

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Nick Fielden Copywriter www.nickfielden.com.au

Why A Newsletter Is So Good For Professionals - Part 1

4/10/2013

The Newsletter Past and Present

The ubiquitous newsletter. Professional firms feel obliged to offer a newsletter to their clients. It has become a marketing necessity. Why is that so?

Let's first look at how the newsletter arose. It demonstrates how the human mind is anxious to learn - how we all eagerly consume information that is current and reflects changes that impact on how we think, how we relate to others and how we choose to spend our money.

The Origin of the Newsletter

There had circulated throughout Europe during the 17th century letters of a social nature, keeping groups of citizens with a common interest abreast of 'news'. These were private, informal pieces of writing that would be passed on from member to member. Reputedly, the first known example was written in 1631 by English 'expats' giving overseas news to friends at home.

The 'news letter' arose during the 17th century for the consumption of a growing literate elite. These began as single hand-written sheets containing either information of interest to those in commerce, or items of news that would appeal to a more general readership.

The first printed newsletters appeared in the 18th century. They were discrete trade or business publications, issued by a trade association or the company concerned, and were regarded as a swift and convenient means of giving information to the association's members or the company's customers. Many newsletters transformed into newspapers proper, or trade journals, comprising several pages and attracting a wider readership.

The printed newsletter found its pride of place at the very beginning of the 20th century. Advances in technology and manufacturing processes necessitated the dissemination of specialised information. The early shoots of consumerism also generated greater interest amongst the moneyed classes in commercial products. Amongst the first to identify the benefits of newsletter distribution were the financial institutions offering investment advice to their customers. You've probably come across those stock market trading pamphlets predicting the next hot share to take up, or the new company-launch that's predicted to produce a handsome capital gain.

Those newsletters proved very popular, and subscribers were prepared to pay thousands of dollars to receive their insights and tips. Each institution's newsletter was perceived as giving unique information to its readers. In other words, subscribers saw themselves as a select group, the chosen few, who alone were privy to the 'secrets of the market' or the latest 'investment opportunity'; they persist to this day.

The Present Day

Those bodies that see the importance of the newsletter has expanded beyond the business sector. The 'community newsletter' is now commonly published by clubs, societies, associations and religious groups. It encourages member-participation and seeks to reach out to potential, new members. Even local government has entered the arena, and residents may find in their mailboxes a quarterly newsletter explaining their council's initiatives, activities and proposals for change.

The business sector has also seen the benefits of the non-promotional newsletter. In addition to informing the customer of the latest innovation, the company now seeks to bond with its workforce by issuing a regular 'employee newsletter'. The management sees it as an ideal medium to instill the company ethos, to rally team spirit, reward individual endeavour or initiative and to generally connect with those within the company whom they will not meet on a day-to-day basis - shop-floor networking by proxy.

Much of this expansion and development of the newsletter as a tool of communication has, of course, been as a result of the digital revolution. It is now trite to talk of how the computer has transformed society.

What it has done for the newsletter is twofold:

Firstly, it has facilitated composing, editing and printing. The ease and productivity with which a newsletter can now be compiled has taken its publication out of the hands of the advertising agency into the office or home of the individual.
Secondly, the introduction of the internet has provided a means of delivery to the reader that knocks the socks off the previous alternatives - the fax and its land-based predecessor, by courtesy of the friendly postie.

The e-newsletter combines ease and speed of delivery, at a low cost. It also offers a flexibility of presentation and design that is light years distant from its printed predecessor. It can now incorporate internet links that draw traffic to the sender's website and enhance search engine optimisation.

It is no exaggeration to say that the metamorphosis of the newsletter of just twenty years ago, into its present form, is no less an advance than Edison's 19th century, scratchy recording of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' compared with Phil Spector's 'Wall of Sound' music production technique of the 1960s.

Part II of ''Why A Newsletter Is So Good For Professionals'', explaining the benefits of keeping in regular touch with clients, will appear as my next musing. Nick F.

Sources

American Antiquarian Society. www.americanantiquarian.org
Massachusetts Historical Society. www.masshist.org

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Nick Fielden Copywriter www.nickfielden.com.au

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Why A Newsletter Is So Good For Professionals - Part II

What Has The Newsletter Ever Given Us?

Benefits, Dear Boy, Benefits

Why A Newsletter Is So Good For Professionals - Part 1

The Newsletter Past and Present

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The Hallmark Of A Controversial English JudgeWho Would Not Allow The Law To Get In The Way Of Justice

What Has The Newsletter Ever Given Us?

Benefits, Dear Boy, Benefits

The Newsletter Past and Present

Archives

Categories

The Hallmark Of A Controversial English Judge
Who Would Not Allow The Law To Get In The Way Of Justice