Unless you’re documenting actual quotations or listing song titles, quote marks should be used sparingly. When used around a word or phrase in a sentence, the punctuation can denote that you mean the opposite of what your words actually say or that you disagree with the word choice. It’s like saying “so-called” before the word in quotes. For example: That “dinner” was awesome. (That so-called dinner was awesome? Yikes.)

If you need to draw attention to a particular word or phrase, first consider how to drive your message home with your sentence structure or paragraph breaks. Simplicity rules! If you still want to add extra emphasis to a word or a phrase, consider italics or bold instead of quotation marks. Again, use sparingly, so you don’t overdo it and lose effect.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Westminster College as they have researched and worked on coming up with a new tagline to capture and convey the college’s unique mission and marketing position. Congrats on a job well done to Westminster’s Kris Lensmeyer and her marketing team. They unveiled their new tagline this week: Educated to Lead. Inspired to Achieve.

Westminster empowered a team of outside help and inside staff to develop the words that will best carry the institution forward in the years to come. Regardless of your business’s size, taking a step back to assess your strategic positioning is crucial for success. The words you choose give focus – they lead  staff and stir clients and customers.

Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind …

Your tagline and mission should not be written in stone. Running a business is a journey. You change, the market changes, your customers’ needs change. Make sure that you adapt and stay in tune.

Talk to your customer. Set up focus groups to find out key points about what your customers need and want, so you can then evaluate how well your company is serving them. Send out a survey to reach even more people. Using a third party can help you get honest feedback, but even if you simply ask some questions informally, find out how they see your business and why they are loyal to you.

Talk to your staff and supporting partners. How do they see your business? Bring in their voices – again, utilize focus groups, surveys, interviews. You’ll gain even more perspective and empower your team to take ownership of the work you collectively provide.

Words matter. A tagline may be short, but you want it to be powerful. Test out your ideas. See what is the best fit.

Considering taglines and missions isn’t just wordplay. Raise your head and take a look at who your business is and what direction it is going so you can steer the way.

Don’t worry — You’re not alone in tripping over the following list of commonly misspelled words in business. The problem? Double letters and shifty vowels get tricky.

Here’s a list of some of the most often misspelled words to keep in mind — and near your desk:

accommodate

acknowledgement

commitment

deductible

inadvertent

indispensable

liaison

occurrence

personnel

prerogative

supercede

Affect vs. Effect

Don’t know if you had an effect or affect? Here’s help.

The majority of the time, AFFECT is a verb and should be used to denote action in a sentence (“The heat and humidity affected the athlete’s performance.”), and EFFECT is a noun and can be used as the subject or object in a sentence (“It’s difficult to determine what effect the heat had on the athlete’s performance.”).

There are rare instances, however, when the two switch places.

AFFECT can be a noun when referenced in psychology as the mood a person appears to have (“She presented a sad affect.”).

EFFECT becomes a verb when it’s used to mean “to bring about” or “to accomplish” (“The employee hoped her proposal would effect change in the office.”).

Since those two instances are less commonly used in everyday speech, keep them in the back of your mind, but remember the basic rule:

Affect = verb.

Effect = noun.

Hope today’s post has a positive effect on your writing!

In the midst of Christmas preparations, I’m reminded how the best basic principles to follow in social media are good life practices in general. The holidays are an opportune time to focus on what’s important, so I’m sharing some of the insight I took in at Michael Stelzner’s session on social media at the International Spa Association Conference in Las Vegas in November. (Stelzner is well-known for socialmediaexaminer.com – a great resource!)

Stelzner’s advice …

(1) Focus on “free stuff.” Give content away in order to build a customer base that trusts you. The best things in life are free and from the heart.

(2) Shine the spotlight on others, not yourself. “When you lift people up, they’ll lift you up.” When we do more for others, we are rewarded with great gifts.

May your holiday be filled with great bounty of immeasurable worth, and may the New Year find you surrounded by those who help you shine bright!

– Jenny

I recently saw a QR code in a spot I never expected to see one: on a billboard on Interstate 70. 

I wanted to take a picture to show why it is a bad idea to have a QR code on a billboard, but I couldn’t. It’s on a major interstate. Not a good idea to drive and try to use your phone’s camera at the same time – which is precisely why you shouldn’t put a QR code up on a billboard.

QR codes are good for offering an easy link to something special, but you have to put them in a situation where they are easy to scan. Driving by high speeds is not conducive to scanning. Think how the QR code can add real value to your marketing or communications plan, instead of just using as a high tech way to say “Look at me!”

For example, instead of embedding a QR code with a link to your web site on your business card, link to a vCard so that all your info goes straight to the scanner’s phone with no fuss, no muss, no typing.

All flash and no substance doesn’t take you far, so think about if you have a viable purpose for your QR code before you use it.

Does your spa have a social media presence?

Can you define the purpose of that presence in one sentence?

Can you look at your social media accounts and clearly see that purpose revealed?

How do you know that your social media presence is supporting that purpose?

“Social Media Ruined Everything,” a recent blog post on WebsiteMagazine.com, points out the need for accountability in social media participation. A couple of key points deserve to be reiterated:

(1) Businesses (and consumers) are confused by social media.

“Information management software company Endeca released results of its 2011 E-Commerce Analytics Survey recently and found that 61 percent of respondents admit they are currently making decisions based on half or less than half of data available to them. To make matters worse, nearly half of the survey respondents reported that they were using multiple tools (at least three ore more) to support business intelligence (BI) decisions.”

If prospective clients or guests are researching spas in your area, how is your social media presence helping them make that decision? If the only see half of the picture, what information are you giving them upfront and fast? How does your presence make you stand out from your competition?

Look not just at your own social media profile, but also that of the competition. Look at where you are represented, where they are represented, and make sure you have all bases covered.

(2) Too many businesses spin their wheels with social media.

“If you’re not on top of your game when it comes to your enterprise’s specific social media participation goals, you’ll be lost in a sea of competitors all clamoring for attention and loyalty from the same audience — and have nothing to show for it. “

But what does it mean to be on top of your game? If you don’t know why your business has a social media presence, it’s hard to evaluate how well you are doing.

If you want your Facebook page to be a place to drive last minute spa deals, then you should have a pretty clear picture of how your posts correlate to making the phone ring for appointments.

But if your goal is to build community and awareness of your spa, you can’t just limit your tracking to a quick look at how many times the phone rang today. Are you driving your online fans to your web site to sign up for e-news or to check out more information? Is your spa’s business finding more loyalty from your online fans? Slow and steady can still win the race, so don’t look solely at social media as a quick fix-all.

I often work as a liaison between my client and other vendors, working to communicate needs, wants and realities between both parties. The client has ideas and the photographer has ideas, and I try to bring those two planes of thought together to deliver what will best serve the client’s needs — striving for fabulous, specific to the particular spa experience and functional.

When working with photographers, here are a few things to keep in mind for your spa photo shoot.

Preparation is key. Photographers are not mind-readers. Before meeting with a photographer, make a list of the shots you want and find images from other photographers (look through magazines or stock photography sites or check your own photographer’s photo gallery) that are similar to what you want. Think about composition, light quality, style, etc. Even if you don’t know why you like a particular photo, clip it and show the photographer you are working with. You don’t have to know the technical terms, but you do need to have an opinion and examples in order to get what you want.

Think about what is available in stock photography before you start, and about what images you have seen before. If you want some images that are more abstract, consider if those shots are already available via stock photography. If so, how can you make those images be specific to your spa? Try to capture essences of your facility, to connect the audience with what your spa delivers. A lot of images in the spa industry are oft-repeated … so how can you tweak it just a bit to make it your own?

For example, the hands-on-the-back massage photo. Can you work in a bit of the background of your massage room, if it speaks of your spa experience? Massage photos are great at putting the audience in the experience so that they think – I want to be that woman on the massage table – but try to keep the photo as specific to your spa as possible.

Stay involved during the shoot. For a photo shoot, unless it is a photographer the spa has a long-standing relationship with where you know they clearly understand what you want, stay with them as they shoot. Find a balance between micro- and macro-management of the shoot, where you offer suggestions or catch detail issues but don’t hinder the photographer’s ability to work or his/her creative license. Be closely enough involved to be able to contribute constructively to the shoot.

For example, shooting at Spa Shiki, we were getting photos of the model in the meditation room. Most of the photos were from behind, focusing not on the model, but looking over her shoulder, almost as if eavesdropping on the scene to convey a sense of privacy and quiet. I asked for a different angle, moving the photographer to shoot her feet/ankles crossed, to capture the row of chaise lounges – hoping to go for the same feel, but in a more unique way than we’ve seen before. I didn’t have this angle on the initial shot list, but got a glimpse of the possibility in the photo shoot.

Consider both ad and editorial uses. Creative angles are great, but make sure you also have more standard photos of your facility for when you need them for the media.

Behind the scenes photos from Spa Shiki photo shoot with Pro Photo’s Chris Hollaway and Rebecca Rademan.

Congratulations to CatchPhrase client, Baxter’s Lakeside Grille!

Readers of AAA Midwest Traveler recently ranked Baxter’s Lakeside Grille as one of the top two restaurants in the Midwest for fine dining. Highlighted in the travel magazine’s July/August 2011 issue, AAA Midwest Traveler’s annual poll reveals readers’ top picks for the Midwest’s best cities, attractions and getaways. “Best Fine Dining” is the only restaurant category included in the Midwest poll.

Located on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, Baxter’s Lakeside Grille earned second place in the poll behind Tony’s in St. Louis. The Pear Tree Restaurant in Bevier, Mo. ranked third. The Lake of the Ozarks also received recognition in the poll, ranking at the top for “Best Lake Getaway” and “Best Guys’ Weekend.”

For the full AAA Midwest Traveler article, visit http://www.ouraaa.com/traveler/mid/2011/07/fBest.html.

Guy Kawaski posted a list of 10 ways to be more likeable online: http://www.openforum.com/articles/10-ways-to-be-more-likeable-online?extlink=em-openf-SBdaily

This list isn’t just about how to be likeable online, however. The recommendations are good reminders on how to network and interact with customers in person as well. It comes down to my marketing mantra: It’s not about you. Your presence in your industry and the marketplace has to be about your customer and what they need. Your value is tied to how well you meet the customer’s needs, so listen to your target market. Be nice. Listen. Say thank you often. Don’t ignore people. Be real. Be you.

It’s a little bit of “everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten” but the truest lesson in life are universal.

Here’s Kawaski’s short list (view full blog for details):

1. Listen first and never stop listening

2. Engage, don’t sell

3. Offer value

4. Respond to negative comments

5. Respond to the positive comments, too

6. Surprise and delight

7. Ask questions

8. Share stories

9. Be honest and transparent

10. Don’t sell