What is the point of communicating?

It’s all right, we’re not in a huff, but are asking a serious question: why communicate?

Just like any other business activity, the purpose is to achieve an objective.

At the moment, we’re considering the business objectives of a number of clients. How does a new travel company reach a mass audience in its area on a regular basis without bankrupting itself on adverts? How does an established manufacturer strengthen its position when newcomers claim to offer a fresher, more innovative and responsive service? How does an IT company market a product that is so easy-to-use and effective that many target users just can’t believe how it answers all their dreams?

It’s not just a case of writing down what each business does, how committed their people are and what great service they give, but about trying to think like each of their target audiences, what they need and what will make them respond.

Sometimes the act of writing is quick and easy, because all the necessary preparation – the thinking and planning – has been done before.  Whether we’re copywriting for a brochure or web site or putting together a public relations programme with press releases and case studies, the business objective has to remain the focus at all times.

And doing it thoroughly takes time: thinking through the issues; considering readers’ potential objections; identifying what will attract their interest; developing the drivers that will lead them to take the desired action.

The result we aim for is interesting, lively copy that grabs readers’ attention and steers them towards actions that will achieve each client’s specific business objectives.

As well as aiming to write well, we work to understand our clients as businesses and what they aim to achieve.

And that is why and how we know the point of any communication we produce for our clients.

On Thursday I went to a business breakfast which was attended by Nick Harvey, MP for North Devon and Liberal Democrat spokesman for Defence.

Networking can be a funny old game, but this breakfast was a good reminder of the practical advantages of making connections through meeting people. It’s not every day that you get the chance to ask questions of and discuss issues with your MP. There’s no guarantee that what you say will change the world, but you never know what ideas you could spark off and spread to Westminster and beyond.

Meeting people and discussing issues with them are healthy for individuals, business and democracy. Perhaps in some small way we are capable of influencing the wider world for the better?

Robert Zarywacz

Ever thought of writing an article? Everybody seems to be doing it. Only, not all articles are worth reading.

Even I don’t get as much time as I would like to blog on here, because I’m usually writing or editing articles or material for clients.

However, articles can be very useful for promoting your business or demonstrating your industry knowledge or expertise.

On our www.editorialresources.co.uk site we’ve just published a new free prompt on ‘how to write a business article’. It won’t write the article for you, but aims to give you pointers with regard to structure, style and content.

If you want or need to write an article and don’t know where to start, we hope this will help you.

Robert Zarywacz