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Don't Be Possessed by Possessives: Use a Vertical Line to Separate the Parts
As part of SAID & DONE's interest in helping people communicate, we post this article about the apostrophe. You may have noticed that our blog posts now use a word and put a brief definition in parentheses ( ) after that word. This is because we know that many people whose native language is English need or want to improve their vocabulary knowledge. The other reason we are doing this is because we assume that some of the readers will be persons whose native language is not English and who are in need of vocabulary building, and others may have a learning disability such as dyslexia. We hope that these mini definitions will be helpful.
I get comments regularly about the problem of showing ownership in writing. Most people know that there is an apostrophe involved - and why do all these sentence and grammar body parts have to have such hard-to-spell names anyway? Apostrophe to me sounds like a religious term - similar to apostles and apostates.
For some funny musings on grammar and punctuation, visit the Oxford University Press blog. Here is a post on apostrophes: http://blog.oup.com/2008/07/apostrophes/.
According to the post above, the apostrophe invaded the English language in the 16th century, unluckily for us.
Other languages with which I am familiar (in order of the onset of my exposure in life: Polish, French, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic) do not burden the speaker and writer with a pesky mark to show ownership - they simply add the word "of" or put the word for the owned item in front of the word for the owner. So in English to express the fact that the boy owns a hat you would say or write the phrase "boy's hat", in Arabic you would say "hat the boy," and in French or Spanish you would say "hat of the boy." I won't go into Polish because it is a more complex language similar to Latin in its use of confusing endings to words for different situations.
Back to the invasion by the apostrophe...it was first used to substitute for missing letters in common speech. It is still used this way in contractions: won't, don't, isn't, wouldn't, let's, would've (which many people think is 'would of' but it is really 'would have'). The apostrophe stands for a missing letter or letters. So to spell these correctly, just think of which letters would be there if you said both words in the contraction, and put the apostrophe where the deleted letters would be.
To handle possessives (ownership) simply write the word that is showing ownership without any apostrophes.
Let's say you are trying to communicate that the girl has a book.
You know that you will at least write 'girls.' Go ahead and write it.
Now examine the word and ask yourself how many girls there are - just one.
So draw a vertical (up and down) line in a place that breaks 'girls' into a word that shows one girl and the s on the other side: girl (your vertical line would go here) s.
Now erase the bottom part of the vertical line and just leave a small part at the top. That is your apostrophe. Now write the word showing what the girl owns to the right of girl's: girl's book. There you have it.
If more than one girl owns a book or books, write the word girls as you know that is going to be written to start with.
Where would you put your vertical line to show the number of girls being more than one?
Right. To the right of the word: girls (your vertical line here). Now erase the bottom part of the line: girls'.
Next post will deal with trickier possessive nouns (girl's and girls' are possessive nouns; possessive means owning or having something, from the root word possess (own) and nouns are words that name a person, place, or thing).
I think we should change some of the grammar and punctuation names to something that is easier to understand. Maybe the apostrophe should be called a handle, as if you own something you may hold onto it by a handle of some kind.
Homework: Practice Makes Perfect. Go write something to promote your business or cause and use two different possessive nouns - one that has one person/'place/thing owning something, and another that has more than one.
Singular example: Our store's anniversary is in August....
Plural example: The girls' night out that we are offering...
And please consider contacting SAID & DONE for help with your communications. We are now offering social media setup: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, etc., and we can still help you with copywriting for your email newsletters, brochures, and more. If you need a logo, we can help with that as well. Another upcoming service is installing easy to use websites that you can log into and update yourself with just a username and password in a window that looks like a Microsoft Word document. And we try to do all this at a very economical price. Email us at info@saidndone.com!
I get comments regularly about the problem of showing ownership in writing. Most people know that there is an apostrophe involved - and why do all these sentence and grammar body parts have to have such hard-to-spell names anyway? Apostrophe to me sounds like a religious term - similar to apostles and apostates.
For some funny musings on grammar and punctuation, visit the Oxford University Press blog. Here is a post on apostrophes: http://blog.oup.com/2008/07/apostrophes/.
According to the post above, the apostrophe invaded the English language in the 16th century, unluckily for us.
Other languages with which I am familiar (in order of the onset of my exposure in life: Polish, French, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic) do not burden the speaker and writer with a pesky mark to show ownership - they simply add the word "of" or put the word for the owned item in front of the word for the owner. So in English to express the fact that the boy owns a hat you would say or write the phrase "boy's hat", in Arabic you would say "hat the boy," and in French or Spanish you would say "hat of the boy." I won't go into Polish because it is a more complex language similar to Latin in its use of confusing endings to words for different situations.
Back to the invasion by the apostrophe...it was first used to substitute for missing letters in common speech. It is still used this way in contractions: won't, don't, isn't, wouldn't, let's, would've (which many people think is 'would of' but it is really 'would have'). The apostrophe stands for a missing letter or letters. So to spell these correctly, just think of which letters would be there if you said both words in the contraction, and put the apostrophe where the deleted letters would be.
To handle possessives (ownership) simply write the word that is showing ownership without any apostrophes.
Let's say you are trying to communicate that the girl has a book.
You know that you will at least write 'girls.' Go ahead and write it.
Now examine the word and ask yourself how many girls there are - just one.
So draw a vertical (up and down) line in a place that breaks 'girls' into a word that shows one girl and the s on the other side: girl (your vertical line would go here) s.
Now erase the bottom part of the vertical line and just leave a small part at the top. That is your apostrophe. Now write the word showing what the girl owns to the right of girl's: girl's book. There you have it.
If more than one girl owns a book or books, write the word girls as you know that is going to be written to start with.
Where would you put your vertical line to show the number of girls being more than one?
Right. To the right of the word: girls (your vertical line here). Now erase the bottom part of the line: girls'.
Next post will deal with trickier possessive nouns (girl's and girls' are possessive nouns; possessive means owning or having something, from the root word possess (own) and nouns are words that name a person, place, or thing).
I think we should change some of the grammar and punctuation names to something that is easier to understand. Maybe the apostrophe should be called a handle, as if you own something you may hold onto it by a handle of some kind.
Homework: Practice Makes Perfect. Go write something to promote your business or cause and use two different possessive nouns - one that has one person/'place/thing owning something, and another that has more than one.
Singular example: Our store's anniversary is in August....
Plural example: The girls' night out that we are offering...
And please consider contacting SAID & DONE for help with your communications. We are now offering social media setup: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, etc., and we can still help you with copywriting for your email newsletters, brochures, and more. If you need a logo, we can help with that as well. Another upcoming service is installing easy to use websites that you can log into and update yourself with just a username and password in a window that looks like a Microsoft Word document. And we try to do all this at a very economical price. Email us at info@saidndone.com!
Happy Birthday USA - Thanks to Men and Women with Pens Who Knew How to Use Them
From The Library of Congress: Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson
Found at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Benjamin_Franklin_Joins_the_Revolution.html
On the birthday of the Declaration of Independence, I say we salute the founding fathers and mothers of the USA for their writing and vocabulary talents. The ability to express themselves convincingly in writing was responsible for inspiring thousands to be with them and against them. If it's true as experts say that a large precise vocabulary is the number one attribute of successful executives, these people exemplify this fact.
Let's just look at a few of these people.
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are three men we can peruse (which means to study in detail) were the three men chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence. The three men drafted the document between June 7 (my son's birthday), 1776, when the idea of separation was ratified (approved by vote) at the Continental Congress, and July 4, 1776, when the document was signed by the famous group of leaders.
John Adams was trained in law and spent much time before and after the Declaration of Independence writing newspaper editorials fomenting (inciting) separation from England.
Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old when he was invited to join the Continental Congress a year before the Declaration was signed. Public speaking did not come easily to him, but writing was a strength. He apparently sat mostly silent in the meetings for awhile, contemplating whether to completely support separation, and at last he did. His wisdom and writing capabilities were key to the document's development.
Thomas Jefferson also was trained in law and was an eloquent speaker as well as a prolific writer, making him the writer and editor in chief of the Declaration. This should make us all look into Toastmasters. Power executives must also be good public speakers. Jefferson was probably a genius with one of the top IQs of all time, expert in many subjects and a passionate advocate of universal free public education.
I think discussions between women and men shaped the founding documents of our country. During the Revolutionary War, John Adams exchanged letters with his brilliant wife Abigail, who was the home executive in charge of the family homestead while he was away. John Adams became our first ambassador to England, and again exchanged many letters with his wife, whom we can call a founding mother. These collections of letters are available in books and are worthy of perusal. Abigail urged her husband not to forget the women in developing our country's first governance documents...however, women had to wait a few hundred years for that advice to be heeded.
Today's topic made me think of a great company appropriate to promote today: Men with Pens. The marketing for this company seems to capture in modern form a bit of the spirit of Ben Franklin, who was a bit of an irreverant and authority questioning type of guy.
Men and women with pens (which we can metaphorically consider any tool for communicating ideas) who know how to use them are indeed powerful, and the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword seems very true. The pen often gets things started.
The Importance of Having a Great Vocabulary
Yesterday I went to the Houston office of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation (http://www.jocrf.org/) with my daughter, a bright 17-year-old with several talents who has been a little stressed about future college major and career ideas. Her grandfather kindly sponsored an aptitude testing session. By the way, I highly recommend this outfit for aptitude testing. People as young as 14 can take the test. Johnson O'Connor is a non-profit organization that puts the profit back into research about aptitudes and sponsors some testing for low income secondary students - very good of them, I think.
The testing associate explained that the TOP indicator of success as a business executive is having a large precise vocabulary. He mentioned that The Economist magazine has one of the highest vocabulary levels among magazines and that Bill Gates reads this magazine. Hmm. Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, founder of Microsoft, worth tens of billions, and can handle this kind of magazine reading daily. As Mr. Webre said, an average to low vocabulary size can cause people to misunderstand their bosses and clients, which can be very costly.
It can also be costly in personal relationships. I'll never forget the time I used the word 'regression' about my yougest child's behavior due to jealousy as a result of an extended family gathering, and one relative thought I was saying that I had regrets about the gathering. Oops. Luckily this relative is the type who was open about being offended, and the situation was explained and resolved nicely.
How best to expand the vocabulary? Keep a small dictionary handy - in the purse or briefcase, on the laptop, an iPhone application...and use it to look up words you are familiar with seeing and the thought always crosses your mind that you wonder what that means precisely. Don't focus on totally unfamiliar words - unless you are going to buy a vocabulary book from Johnson O'Connor that has a programmed approach. Mr. Webre's formula: look it up, memorize the meaning, and use the word soon and several times.
Did you know that vocabulary can decline? Yes, it can. My GRE Vocab score was 710 when I was in my twenties. I took the test again 3 years ago after years of not looking up very many words, and it had declined to 650.
My resolution: start working on vocabulary again. I started following a vocabulary builder on Twitter (@wordexplorer), and so far the words are ones I have seen, many of which I know, but there are a few that are familiar but I was not sure about the meaning.
My other resolution: help others build their vocabularies.You can follow the Twitter feed mentioned above, and you can also go to the Johnson O'Connor Resources page http://www.jocrf.org/resources/vocabulary.html.
My next few Twitter posts are going to be the meaning of words that Mr. Webre asked my daughter and me about, none of which I answered correctly. They are all familiar to most educated adults, and we should know them. Maybe this will be one word a week in the future!
Happy building!
The testing associate explained that the TOP indicator of success as a business executive is having a large precise vocabulary. He mentioned that The Economist magazine has one of the highest vocabulary levels among magazines and that Bill Gates reads this magazine. Hmm. Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, founder of Microsoft, worth tens of billions, and can handle this kind of magazine reading daily. As Mr. Webre said, an average to low vocabulary size can cause people to misunderstand their bosses and clients, which can be very costly.
It can also be costly in personal relationships. I'll never forget the time I used the word 'regression' about my yougest child's behavior due to jealousy as a result of an extended family gathering, and one relative thought I was saying that I had regrets about the gathering. Oops. Luckily this relative is the type who was open about being offended, and the situation was explained and resolved nicely.
How best to expand the vocabulary? Keep a small dictionary handy - in the purse or briefcase, on the laptop, an iPhone application...and use it to look up words you are familiar with seeing and the thought always crosses your mind that you wonder what that means precisely. Don't focus on totally unfamiliar words - unless you are going to buy a vocabulary book from Johnson O'Connor that has a programmed approach. Mr. Webre's formula: look it up, memorize the meaning, and use the word soon and several times.
Did you know that vocabulary can decline? Yes, it can. My GRE Vocab score was 710 when I was in my twenties. I took the test again 3 years ago after years of not looking up very many words, and it had declined to 650.
My resolution: start working on vocabulary again. I started following a vocabulary builder on Twitter (@wordexplorer), and so far the words are ones I have seen, many of which I know, but there are a few that are familiar but I was not sure about the meaning.
My other resolution: help others build their vocabularies.You can follow the Twitter feed mentioned above, and you can also go to the Johnson O'Connor Resources page http://www.jocrf.org/resources/vocabulary.html.
My next few Twitter posts are going to be the meaning of words that Mr. Webre asked my daughter and me about, none of which I answered correctly. They are all familiar to most educated adults, and we should know them. Maybe this will be one word a week in the future!
Happy building!
Web 2.0 and Social Media
I've been slowly working on adding different social media websites to my list of places to put myself out there as a business. Today I attended a presentation by Edie McRae of Millionaire Moms Inc that was so inspiring! I loved her response to clients who say they just don't have the time to do social media as a way of networking: you can't afford not to make the time.
This got me to thinking about additional services to offer from SAID & DONE. We are working on learning Dot Net Nuke to use as a powerful website design and content management system. I expect we will be able to offer this to clients by the end of the summer if not sooner. It's a very exciting program that allows users to be assigned different levels of access to parts of a website which they can then update independently without having to know code. This method will save small and medium sized businesses a lot of money. They won't have to pay someone to do all their updates and what's worse - wait a week or more for the udpates to get done. With my background in education it will be easy to develop fun and efficient seminars to train people how to update. We can even record these as videos and make them available to customers.
Now I'm thinking about offering Social Media training and consultation as well. SAID & DONE is all about words and communication, which is the infrastructure of networking. And our attitude is the heart of networking - truly caring about the success of our clients. I think we will be offering a great much desired set of services very soon!
This got me to thinking about additional services to offer from SAID & DONE. We are working on learning Dot Net Nuke to use as a powerful website design and content management system. I expect we will be able to offer this to clients by the end of the summer if not sooner. It's a very exciting program that allows users to be assigned different levels of access to parts of a website which they can then update independently without having to know code. This method will save small and medium sized businesses a lot of money. They won't have to pay someone to do all their updates and what's worse - wait a week or more for the udpates to get done. With my background in education it will be easy to develop fun and efficient seminars to train people how to update. We can even record these as videos and make them available to customers.
Now I'm thinking about offering Social Media training and consultation as well. SAID & DONE is all about words and communication, which is the infrastructure of networking. And our attitude is the heart of networking - truly caring about the success of our clients. I think we will be offering a great much desired set of services very soon!
Business Writing 101
So many people say, "If I could write better, that would help my business so much." Based on this survey input to the local chapter of the American Business Women's Association, I was invited to give a talk on Business Writing. How can you improve your writing for business purposes? I have a list of 5 ideas to share with you.
1. Don't be a perfectionist.
Spelling and grammar give some people nightmares. Many people in the United States made up their own spelling until only about 150 years ago. Back then, most children didn’t have public education, and most people couldn’t afford a dictionary. That didn’t stop people from writing letters to family and friends. It didn’t stop business owners from writing advertisements, either.
There are plenty of resources today to help with spelling and grammar, including tools in Microsoft Word that help you spell check and grammar check yourself. Anyone can find free dictionary and thesaurus applications on the Internet as well.
Structure and organization cause a lot of stress also. How many paragraphs should you use? What should the first paragraph be about? One of my favorite websites for writing help is the Purdue University OWL, or Online Writing Laboratory. There are lots of examples of different kinds of writing laid out in an easy-to-read format. A great book for writing your own advertising copy is The Copywriters Handbook. One great tip: use the word “free” wherever you can, and put it near the top.
2. Get started with positive self-talk and creativity tasks.
Listen to what your mind is saying to you as you start a writing task. If it is negative thoughts, tell those thoughts, "Stop." Then say something nice about yourself such as, "Up till now I haven't been confident about writing, but I am working on it and my writing will get better. In fact, my writing will make me happy." Then start writing, either on paper or on the computer. Don't censor yourself. Just get the words out. Edit later.
Try to write at least a paragraph a day outside of your business writing tasks. Try to expose yourself to something creative on a regular basis. Fingerpainting, working with crafts, listening to new kinds of music, reading something outside your normal interest area – all these will stimulate parts of your brain that connect to improved writing.
3. Make it easy for your audience to read your writing.
The average reading level of the adult population in the United States is between 6th and 8th grade. You may be surprised how many of your customers and potential customers are in this range. And for the majority of your customers who are reading above this level, finding something on an easier reading level makes better use of their time as they can read such material more quickly. Keep your vocabulary at a simpler level: for example, "use" instead of "utilize," "show" instead of "demonstrate." Microsoft Word has a tool that lets you analyze the reading level of anything you have composed. The reading level of this article is 7.3 (beginning of 7th grade). Just click on the Help button on the standard tool bar and type “display readability statistics” in the search bar to find directions.
Keep your sentences shorter. Incomplete sentences can be acceptable, depending on the tone you want to achieve. Example sentence fragment from a marketing email: Free delivery.
Strive for shorter paragraphs short as well. Having some white space and not filling up a page allows the reader some comfort in reading.
4. Learn to spot and fix run-on sentences.
While a sentence fragment can be acceptable in modern business writing, especially advertising copy, a run-on is a no-no.
Example: We provide free delivery you can shop on our website 24/7.
To spot the run-on sentence, read each sentence and underline the first subject (a do-er, usually a person or thing), and circle the action or state of being (called a verb) that is attached to the subject. Connect the subject and the action with an arched line.
Keep reading as a detective and see if there is another do-er and another action that is connected to the second do-er. If there is, then you may have a run-on. There needs to be a comma or semicolon and a connecting word ...
--, and --, but --, or --; therefore, --; however,
... before the second do-er. Either connect the two parts of the sentence with a connecting word if you haven't, or put a period before the second do-er and make that do-er the start of another sentence.
Here is the run-on sentence analyzed and then shown with two options for writing it correctly:
Correct:
We provide free delivery, and you can shop on our website 24/7.
-or-
We provide free delivery. You can shop on our website 24/7.
5. Change it up.
Another way to say this: variety is the spice of life. And variety certainly adds spice to reading. Read through your piece and try to have each sentence start with a different word. Certainly most people are aware, or should be, that the words “I” or “we” can start far too many sentences.
Make sentences a variety between shorter to medium length. A few can be fragments. Make sure that some of your sentences are questions. Maybe one can be an exclamation.
If you work at it, you can figure out ways to change your sentence word arrangements and choices to avoid boring the reader. Use humor if it is appropriate to the piece. Make up a word. Modify a saying. Famous online marketers do that all the time. Dr. Seuss did it. Use something surprising. What if you wrote "You can shop on our website 24/8"? Then you could go on and write that you know your customers are working what feels like 8 days a week and you are there to help.
-----------------------
You can start today to improve your business and other writing. Go out and get a nice looking journal for your daily writing efforts. Don't worry about spelling and grammar in that journal. Use the tools that are out there to polish your business writing pieces. And have fun with it!
The People Behind SAID & DONE
See the entry on how to name - or rename - a business to find out how SAID & DONE found its name.
This photo shows the people behind the first word in the business name SAID & DONE:
Sama'an, son, Salwa, younger daughter, Alice, older daughter, Ibrahim, dear husband, and Dana, owner.
Sama'an, a freshman at UTSA, likes to DJ parties for people of all ages with his 1200W system. Sama'an provides video, DVD, and podcast skills. He assisted with a community involvement project by SAID & DONE, the DVD for the local chapter of the American Business Women's Association.
Alice, pronounced the French way, just turned 17 and is a star student of photography at her high school. She provides graphic design as well as PhotoShop and photography capabilities for SAID & DONE. Alice provided peach blossom photographs for our volunteer project last year, designing the Power Point presentation for the Houston Women's Business Enterprise Alliance May 2008 EXPO. She has a great camera and is available for portraiture and other photo needs.
Salwa is an active 10-year-old interested in many topics, including swimming, acting, and dentistry (!). Salwa is learning logo design and has submitted designs for a contest.
Ibrahim provides technical support for SAID & DONE, and will be providing Arabic-English translation and content management for our newest website design client, a Houston medical society.
This photo shows the people behind the first word in the business name SAID & DONE:
Sama'an, son, Salwa, younger daughter, Alice, older daughter, Ibrahim, dear husband, and Dana, owner.
Sama'an, a freshman at UTSA, likes to DJ parties for people of all ages with his 1200W system. Sama'an provides video, DVD, and podcast skills. He assisted with a community involvement project by SAID & DONE, the DVD for the local chapter of the American Business Women's Association.
Alice, pronounced the French way, just turned 17 and is a star student of photography at her high school. She provides graphic design as well as PhotoShop and photography capabilities for SAID & DONE. Alice provided peach blossom photographs for our volunteer project last year, designing the Power Point presentation for the Houston Women's Business Enterprise Alliance May 2008 EXPO. She has a great camera and is available for portraiture and other photo needs.
Salwa is an active 10-year-old interested in many topics, including swimming, acting, and dentistry (!). Salwa is learning logo design and has submitted designs for a contest.
Ibrahim provides technical support for SAID & DONE, and will be providing Arabic-English translation and content management for our newest website design client, a Houston medical society.
What's In A (Company) Name?
How did SAID & DONE get named? How does any business get named?
Choose Meaning - Brainstorm - Evaluate - Elaborate
As a marketing consulting services company, SAID & DONE is here to help you figure out a name for your yet-to-be-launched business, or a new name if you need to tweak what you have. That process involves a few principles: deciding what meanings and moods you want to express, brainstorming, surveying, and choosing. Sometimes, the brainstorming and meanings assessment happen in reverse order. You've all been somewhere when without provocation, an idea pops into your head. Then, you analyze that idea. This is a spontaneous brainstorm with follow-up analysis. And the final leg of the process is to realize that a name has a life cycle. It may be appropriate to revise or replace. It may also be appropriate to elaborate as you find out more associations with the name.
If you happen to be in a position to think about your company name ahead of the flash of inspiration, you will want to keep in mind that words have meanings on more than one level. They also call forth emotional associations and moods. Therefore, it is wise to choose a business name that calls up what you want to have called up! Another approach to business naming has to do with picking a name that makes you happy. Many people use the family name with pride, or the owner's initials, or even a word that stands for a special place or person. Either approach is valid.
Brainstorming is the process of listing ideas that relate to the desired outcome. Once you have selected the meanings and moods you want to call forth, you sit somewhere with a piece of paper or at the computer and start listing, without censoring yourself. When I first began technical and marketing writing as a business owner, after some brainstorming, I established the enterprise as a sole proprietor as a d/b/a named Rainbow Writing. I felt that the word 'rainbow' called up mental images of many colors, wide variety, and a happy feeling.
How do you know you are calling forth the meanings and associations that you are targeting? A survey would be a good way to measure your success in this area. A simple survey would consist of simply asking your friends, family, and closest clients to tell you what they think of when they hear your company name. The results of these simple interviews can tell you a lot.
As time goes by, you will collect a set of impressions from others and from your own experience about your company name. That may lead you to consider tweaking or changing the name. A survey has its place at this point, too.
Here is an example of a company going through the steps of choosing a business name in a different order. The company was started by three siblings. Their father owned a different company. It was called Subsea. The siblings were meeting, trying to think of a name for the company they were planning to establish. A Subsea coffee mug was sitting on the table. Someone looked at the name and suggested using that name backwards. Voila!
One of the funny things about unusual business names is what you find out after the fact. At one point, they had a marketing research company conduct research and a survey about the company name to make sure they wanted to keep it after a period of phenomenal growth. It turned out that the name actually means something good in Greek, and that people on the street who didn't know about the company had good associations with the name as it was. The name stayed - with the addition of two words following it to describe the services the company provides.
For my incorporated business name, I was determined to find a way to incorporate my family's first initials. At the time there were four of us, me (Dana), my husband, Ibrahim, and our two children, Sama'an (Arabic form of Simon, the listener), and Alice. Those letters combined produced the following words: DAIS (a royal platform), SADI (cutified girl's name), and some non-English constructions such as ADIS, which would have been good for being obsessed with alphabetical order. The one English word that seemed to be best was SAID - after all, I was in the business of using words to express business advantages and to document technical procedures.
The brainstorming continued. I thought, "What phrases or sayings contain the word SAID?" Almost right away, I heard my mind say, "said and done." To me that called forth a feeling of being fast, down to earth, and simple. Bottom line. Headline. I went with that. Again, it is funny what you find out after the fact. At the attorney appointment to go over the incorporation papers (and by the way, later it became possible to incorporate yourself on line for a lot less investment), he chuckled when he saw the name I had chosen. "You know the whole saying, right?" he said. "No," I replied. The attorney filled me in. "When all is said and done, there's more said than done."
That thought set me back a bit. Hmm. More said than done? Will people think that my services are all hot air? A lot of talk and no delivery? After a bit of reflection, I thought better of the name again. My business has to do with words, expressions, and communication. It is true that more is said than done in the world, if you count up the number of words spoken and compare to the number of tasks completed for each act of speech. And that is not a bad thing, it's just reality. And if there is a business, it is definitely involved with words and the expression of concepts. Usually in a big company this process is formally called Communications, Marketing, Advertising, or Documentation. So, there is a need for an employee or a department or a consultant to communicate the needed words, which means getting that communication DONE. So I focused on the first part of the phrase: SAID AND DONE.
One more note on finding out information after the fact. SAID & DONE was incorporated. I liked the name, I liked the fact that it carried my wonderful family's meaning within the business, and that a clever saying was associated with it that related to communications. Now I wanted to elaborate. I imagined I could put the phrase that the attorney told me on my website and marketing materials with some clever verbiage around it. I asked a few word nerd friends for their input on where the saying originated. I did some Google research. At one point I was directed to a prominent university football coach's page of quotes, where the quote appeared. Hmm. Would I have to write to his family for permission to use the quote on my website and marketing materials? I decided not to pursue posting the quote on the website. Then one day I was idle for a few minutes, and plugged the quote once more into the Google search window. Aesop appeared. Well, glory be. Apparently it is a wise saying from good old Aesop. No need to write to anyone for permission to use.
So, you are reading my clever verbiage here for the first time.
"After all is said and done, there is more said than done." --Aesop
SAID & DONE knows that there is more said than done, and we're here to help you say it. If you don't have the time to write the brochure copy, develop the documentation, and compose that letter to the board, call on us. Then you will have it said and done.
Choose Meaning - Brainstorm - Evaluate - Elaborate
As a marketing consulting services company, SAID & DONE is here to help you figure out a name for your yet-to-be-launched business, or a new name if you need to tweak what you have. That process involves a few principles: deciding what meanings and moods you want to express, brainstorming, surveying, and choosing. Sometimes, the brainstorming and meanings assessment happen in reverse order. You've all been somewhere when without provocation, an idea pops into your head. Then, you analyze that idea. This is a spontaneous brainstorm with follow-up analysis. And the final leg of the process is to realize that a name has a life cycle. It may be appropriate to revise or replace. It may also be appropriate to elaborate as you find out more associations with the name.
If you happen to be in a position to think about your company name ahead of the flash of inspiration, you will want to keep in mind that words have meanings on more than one level. They also call forth emotional associations and moods. Therefore, it is wise to choose a business name that calls up what you want to have called up! Another approach to business naming has to do with picking a name that makes you happy. Many people use the family name with pride, or the owner's initials, or even a word that stands for a special place or person. Either approach is valid.
Brainstorming is the process of listing ideas that relate to the desired outcome. Once you have selected the meanings and moods you want to call forth, you sit somewhere with a piece of paper or at the computer and start listing, without censoring yourself. When I first began technical and marketing writing as a business owner, after some brainstorming, I established the enterprise as a sole proprietor as a d/b/a named Rainbow Writing. I felt that the word 'rainbow' called up mental images of many colors, wide variety, and a happy feeling.
How do you know you are calling forth the meanings and associations that you are targeting? A survey would be a good way to measure your success in this area. A simple survey would consist of simply asking your friends, family, and closest clients to tell you what they think of when they hear your company name. The results of these simple interviews can tell you a lot.
As time goes by, you will collect a set of impressions from others and from your own experience about your company name. That may lead you to consider tweaking or changing the name. A survey has its place at this point, too.
Here is an example of a company going through the steps of choosing a business name in a different order. The company was started by three siblings. Their father owned a different company. It was called Subsea. The siblings were meeting, trying to think of a name for the company they were planning to establish. A Subsea coffee mug was sitting on the table. Someone looked at the name and suggested using that name backwards. Voila!
One of the funny things about unusual business names is what you find out after the fact. At one point, they had a marketing research company conduct research and a survey about the company name to make sure they wanted to keep it after a period of phenomenal growth. It turned out that the name actually means something good in Greek, and that people on the street who didn't know about the company had good associations with the name as it was. The name stayed - with the addition of two words following it to describe the services the company provides.
For my incorporated business name, I was determined to find a way to incorporate my family's first initials. At the time there were four of us, me (Dana), my husband, Ibrahim, and our two children, Sama'an (Arabic form of Simon, the listener), and Alice. Those letters combined produced the following words: DAIS (a royal platform), SADI (cutified girl's name), and some non-English constructions such as ADIS, which would have been good for being obsessed with alphabetical order. The one English word that seemed to be best was SAID - after all, I was in the business of using words to express business advantages and to document technical procedures.
The brainstorming continued. I thought, "What phrases or sayings contain the word SAID?" Almost right away, I heard my mind say, "said and done." To me that called forth a feeling of being fast, down to earth, and simple. Bottom line. Headline. I went with that. Again, it is funny what you find out after the fact. At the attorney appointment to go over the incorporation papers (and by the way, later it became possible to incorporate yourself on line for a lot less investment), he chuckled when he saw the name I had chosen. "You know the whole saying, right?" he said. "No," I replied. The attorney filled me in. "When all is said and done, there's more said than done."
That thought set me back a bit. Hmm. More said than done? Will people think that my services are all hot air? A lot of talk and no delivery? After a bit of reflection, I thought better of the name again. My business has to do with words, expressions, and communication. It is true that more is said than done in the world, if you count up the number of words spoken and compare to the number of tasks completed for each act of speech. And that is not a bad thing, it's just reality. And if there is a business, it is definitely involved with words and the expression of concepts. Usually in a big company this process is formally called Communications, Marketing, Advertising, or Documentation. So, there is a need for an employee or a department or a consultant to communicate the needed words, which means getting that communication DONE. So I focused on the first part of the phrase: SAID AND DONE.
One more note on finding out information after the fact. SAID & DONE was incorporated. I liked the name, I liked the fact that it carried my wonderful family's meaning within the business, and that a clever saying was associated with it that related to communications. Now I wanted to elaborate. I imagined I could put the phrase that the attorney told me on my website and marketing materials with some clever verbiage around it. I asked a few word nerd friends for their input on where the saying originated. I did some Google research. At one point I was directed to a prominent university football coach's page of quotes, where the quote appeared. Hmm. Would I have to write to his family for permission to use the quote on my website and marketing materials? I decided not to pursue posting the quote on the website. Then one day I was idle for a few minutes, and plugged the quote once more into the Google search window. Aesop appeared. Well, glory be. Apparently it is a wise saying from good old Aesop. No need to write to anyone for permission to use.
So, you are reading my clever verbiage here for the first time.
"After all is said and done, there is more said than done." --Aesop
SAID & DONE knows that there is more said than done, and we're here to help you say it. If you don't have the time to write the brochure copy, develop the documentation, and compose that letter to the board, call on us. Then you will have it said and done.
A First Blog Entry
Well, I've finally done it! After years of pondering the setup of a personal blog, I established a business blog today!
I have been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil, and I write the longest and most detailed emails to friends and family (which is not always a good thing), but somehow starting a blog caused a mental block.
Motivation is a funny thing.
One of my 2009 resolutions was to simplify my life. With 3 kids (one in college, first year), a husband, a house, two dogs, volunteer work and other commitments, it was time to pare back. So, why did I start this blog? It is adding another activity, after all.
I figured that starting a business blog could enhance business. Maybe my clients will enjoy reading a more personal side of my writing style. Maybe potential clients will be tickled and email or call to inquire about services. This could lead to more income, something my family needs, and more income can purchase some services to simplify life.
I also figured that writing a business blog could be good for my soul. Writing is one of my main passions, and doing it makes me feel great. Feeling great makes life feel a bit lighter.
A business blog could also be helpful to folks who are surfing through the website looking for some ideas, answers, and other tidbits. That would simplify their lives, I hope. And since what goes around comes around, that would possibly simplify mine even more.
I have been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil, and I write the longest and most detailed emails to friends and family (which is not always a good thing), but somehow starting a blog caused a mental block.
Motivation is a funny thing.
One of my 2009 resolutions was to simplify my life. With 3 kids (one in college, first year), a husband, a house, two dogs, volunteer work and other commitments, it was time to pare back. So, why did I start this blog? It is adding another activity, after all.
I figured that starting a business blog could enhance business. Maybe my clients will enjoy reading a more personal side of my writing style. Maybe potential clients will be tickled and email or call to inquire about services. This could lead to more income, something my family needs, and more income can purchase some services to simplify life.
I also figured that writing a business blog could be good for my soul. Writing is one of my main passions, and doing it makes me feel great. Feeling great makes life feel a bit lighter.
A business blog could also be helpful to folks who are surfing through the website looking for some ideas, answers, and other tidbits. That would simplify their lives, I hope. And since what goes around comes around, that would possibly simplify mine even more.
Welcome
Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.
