Today communication is instant: type and press enter to publish. Oops, did I really want to say that?

When you’re getting a brochure printed, you have time to chew over the words you use and edit them. Even when you’ve sent the finished design to your printer, you can stop the printing at any stage; you can even decide not to distribute your brochure if you change your mind (although it would be money wasted).

With blogging, email and the internet, it’s different: press enter after you’ve typed a tweet on twitter and it’s gone out into the world. Even though you can delete tweets, some people are still likely to see them. So it’s worth thinking about what you say online and your style of writing. Blogging and services like twitter and facebook can encourage a freer, more light-hearted tone, but at what point does banter start to damage your professional standing when you’re blogging for business?

Perhaps you work in an industry where it doesn’t matter, but some industries are more formal (some would say stuffier) than others. Use these services to build your reputation, not damage it.

That’s not to say that we can’t be original, witty, entertaining, acerbic or controversial. Being a bit different from the crowd helps us stand out, but we want to stand out for the right reasons.

After yesterday’s blog, have you thought about the business topics you can talk about?

z2zine on Monday: What can a press release do for me?

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If we live in the digital age, why do I recycle so much printed marketing material?

Just like the myth of the paperless office, printed words and graphics still play a powerful part in marketing and communications. While the digital world offers very many useful advantages, it complements, rather than supersedes, print.

Bearing this in mind, should we still print business cards and brochures or depend totally on our online presence? The answer is: it depends.

Some businesses can quite easily forego printed material and just refer to their web presence, while others are likely to find a web site almost irrelevant. I know of one business that posts leaflets through doors before following up with a personal visit: they are achieving a good response rate without any online presence whatsoever. However, I believe that a web site would help them.

Personally, I get annoyed by printed catalogues I receive through the post, as I recycle these immediately without looking at them. I used to believe that these were a complete waste of money until recently I began leafing through a catalogue just as it was about to hit the recycling pile and spotted a very good offer for a product that I needed. I ordered the product and enjoyed a hefty discount, which I wouldn’t have been aware of if I hadn’t received the catalogue. So it did work for this supplier.

I think the best course is to review your material regularly and consider what your target audience wants. Do they want to find information and interact through a web site or do they want hard copy to read at their leisure? And what responses do you receive from online and printed materials? The answers will help you to decide whether to produce one or the other or both.

Print is still useful and should not be dismissed without serious consideration, even though digital media can often offer speed and cost advantages.

After our last blog, how are you measuring your success?

z2zine tomorrow: the difference a single letter can make

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. . . for information, for a phone number, for an email address, for details of how to buy from a web site. Trouble is, it’s not just a minute. If I add up all the minutes I spend looking for information that should be obvious, it’ll probably total hours or days.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that some web sites are built like a maze, as presenting information is not formally taught to everyone. Does that matter? It does when a potential customer abandons your web site and visits a competitor in search of what they could not find. Sometimes details as simple as a phone number or email address are buried away or FAQ pages give no real help.

I’m quite a patient person, but there is a limit to how much time I will spend looking for the information I need. It also makes me question the professionalism of the business behind a web site. Do they really know what they’re doing? Maybe I should try someone else.

Just presenting basic information where it can be found easily can make a big difference to the success of a web site. Believe me, it’ll keep me there and could even persuade me to buy.