At Brain Traffic, we’re serious about fun. And coordinating outfits. That’s why we couldn’t pass up competing in Popular Front’s Foosfire tournament last month.
Office politics and a couple naysayers couldn’t stop the Brain Traffic team from representin’ – so what if we lost in the first round. So what, we say!
We got it all on video thanks to our good friend Nate Kadlac.
Prepare to laugh. Also cry. And perhaps appear dumbfounded and confused:
Thinking back to my middle school years, if given the choice to hang out with someone who looked cool — and was always saying things like, “Dude, I am so awesome. Look at how awesome I am,” I would have been all, “Ugh.”
However, if given the chance to hang out with someone who just was cool –- how they looked and acted, what they said –- I would have been all “Ohmigod, let’s totally hang out!”
(Okay, this never happened to me, but that’s beside the point.)
This concept still applies … especially to the “About Us” section of a website. No matter how beautifully designed, if a site’s voice doesn’t ring true, it’s easy to spot an “ugh.”
Rather than using this section of a site like a congratulatory press release, consider approaching “About Us” like a magazine’s Editor Letter.
Following this logic, “About Us” should:
Match the tone and voice of the entire website, while addressing Who / What / Why.
Give a good indication of what to expect on the rest of the site.
In my middle school scenario – just be cool.
This Editor’s Note fromTravel + Leisure really captures this concept:
We call ourselves travel missionaries at this magazine.
The mission is to get our readers out to experience the world, with all its eye-opening, mind-expanding, and life-enhancing possibilities. But at this moment it’s hard to focus on destinations and trip-planning strategies without addressing the economic problems that travel is facing …
Showcasing travel at home and abroad is what we do in the pages of Travel + Leisure, with stories about alluring destinations from Alaska to the Basque Country of France, to name just two in this issue. Our focus remains on providing T+L readers with the inspiration and information they need to achieve their dreams and aspirations.
Although this excerpt appeared in the print version of the magazine, with some slight modifications, this could easily populate an “About Us” section online. It’s current, specific, descriptive and accurately captures the spirit of the publication.
A bit of advice? Don’t announce your awesomeness in “About Us” and expect to be cool forever. Even if your site doesn’t overhaul content as frequently as a magazine — consider frequently updating “About Us” to accurately match your evolving online presence.
A few months ago Kristina was asked to write a book about content strategy. Shortly thereafter she took off for a writing retreat in lovely Vermont. She must be busy, because no one has heard from her since!
We did manage to get our hands on an excerpt from chapter one:
All work and no play makes Kristina a dull content strategist
All work and no play makes Kristina a dull content strategist
All work and no play makes Kristina a dull content strategist
All work and no play makes Kristina a dull content strategist
Watch your back, Hemingway!
You can pre-order Kristina’s book now. Can’t wait? You can buy her webinar today.
At Brain Traffic we care about content
When it’s bad, we so often lament
If you let us write
Like a thief in the night
We’ll rock it and you’ll say we’re god-sent. – Meghan Casey
Oh crap. Our content is a mess!
It’s causing us pain, strife, and stress
If our content is shabby
Our boss will be crabby
It’s time to call BT, oh yes. – Melissa Rach
We bought ourselves just one more whiteboard
For our schemas and plans to record
I left a quick note
My ideas to promote
But as usual, I was ignored. -Kristina Halvorson
There once was a lass called Kristin-er
At conferences, you might have seen her
Now she’s on the hook
To write a big book
And, after that she should take a breather. – Melissa Rach
Here’s what a good schedule can do
It should stick to your project like glue
So when things might fall apart
Don’t take it to heart
Just point and say, “Hey, buddy: It’s Due!" - Angie (1.0) Halama
A Brain Traffic web writer
Is a trained word and grammar fighter
Who defends user needs
Until her pencil bleeds
On a quest to make the internets brighter. - Angie (2.0) King
Control + Alt + Delete
Boy, you sure are neat
You lock my machine
So my Microsoft screen goes aquamarine
Which prohibits my crafty co-workers from hijacking my machine to send a prank email or tweet. - Julie Vollenweider
Limerick-Off
Elizabeth is a girl I know
She has black hair like a crow
She’s fun to tease
And when I please
I respond to her stories with, “So.” - Meghan Casey
Meghan is a white devil lady
Her stories are always very shady
She swears like a man
And smells like fake tan
And one day I’m going to put hot pizza in her shoes so it burns her feet off. - Elizabeth Saloka
Bonus Limerick!
I dated a girl in high school
Sometimes I thought she was cruel.
She’d put up a fight
At the end of the night
She wasn’t from Nantucket, I’ll tell you that. – Josh Foldy
I am sort of a rarity at Brain Traffic, because I really don’t have much of a writing background. I probably wrote less than five papers in my entire college career, I get along better with Excel than Word (numbers and color coding!), and I like digging deep into the details of project management.
Although I have no immediate plans to transition into a web writer, learning about writing for the web has made me a better email communicator and project manager.
For example, here’s a first draft of an email I needed to send to a client:
Hi John,
I wanted to ask a few more questions about the newsletter project we spoke about today over the phone. I spoke with my supervisor and we need clarification on a few items. First, we are wondering about your timing and schedule. How many newsletters do you need? Have you decided how often these will be sent to subscribers? We also need more information about the requirements of each newsletter, such as number of content blocks, if advertisements appear, and if you are looking for us to create unique content.
It will also be helpful to understand your approval process, such as who will be approving the text and how long that usually takes.
Once I hear back from you I can draft the proposals. Thanks!
Beth
This email is a big ol’ mess.
It’s not easy for the client to pick out the action items and dissect what I need from him in order to complete a proposal. This email would be much more effective if the content was broken out in easy-to-understand sections with a clear guide for next steps at the end.
Also, itemizing the list of questions provides an easy way for the client to provide feedback to me. We cut down on the possibility of things getting missed this way.
Here’s a much more effective way of communicating this information:
Hi John,
I just had a quick connect with my supervisor about the newsletter proposal. I’m going to need a little more information than what I heard in our phone conversation last Thursday.
Timing
How often are the newsletters sent out?
How many newsletters do you need written?
Functional/design requirements
Do advertisements appear?
How many content blocks are there?
Do you need unique content created (opposed to editing existing content)
Approval
Who will be approving the copy?
How many business days does this require?
I’m hoping to receive clarification from you by the end of Thursday. I can then send you revised proposal on Friday. Thanks!
Beth
Some of the simplest principles for writing for the web can and should be applied to email communication:
Don’t use ambiguous language.
Eliminate unnecessary words.
Keep your sentences and paragraphs short.
When making lists, use bullets.
When giving instruction or steps, use numbered lists.
Your last sentence should include a clear call to action.
It clearly communicated that there was still a play area but it had been moved.
It helped me understand where I was in the market (northeast) and where I would need to go (southwest).
The graphic gave me additional information (rather than acting as unnecessary decoration) and reinforced which direction I should go to find the play area.
The design isn’t any fancier than it needs to be. It’s clear, simple, and readable from a distance.
There are only two improvements I could offer:
Use sentence case to improve the readability.
Change relocated to moved. Same message, only simpler.
