A style guide doesn't help you dress but it does help you choose the right words.
Why do you need to create a guide to the words describing what you do?
When I worked in newspapers, we had style guides to help us decide which words to use. The entries contained grammar tips, spelling examples and definitions of terms. The guides answered a lot of questions about how to refer to people, places and things.
This helped a diverse collection of writers and editors to present consistent stories. Maybe too consistent. And dry. But that’s another debate.
In the Art Biz Blog, Alyson Stanfield advocates creating a thesaurus of words describing artists’ works:
What words can you count on?
What words do you need to have at the ready for your next brochure, artist statement, or wall label?
Call it a thesaurus or style guide, but having a collection of words handy is a good idea. For example, if you’re going to give a presentation on your industry you will be asked for a bio. Having something already written so you can copy and paste into an e-mail usually suffices. But sometimes the bio needs to be longer, shorter or different depending on the event.
So which words are important? What do they mean?
This will help you craft an elevator pitch, sales copy, product descriptions and social media content.
Where do you store the words and phrases you need to reuse? I know, I’m a big fan of paper notebooks. But maybe this is a good time to use Evernote or Google Docs. I’m advocating cloud services because you will be able to access those words wherever you roam. And tagging, folders and searchability will help.
Plus you’re going to need to put these phrases and words into e-mails and electronic docs. So cut and paste becomes your best friend.
You have any words or text about your business and products that you
