Strategy

Here are just three of my favorite formatting tips to help with putting together sharp and professional-looking written materials.

1. Clean your text. How many times have your written up some material in, say, Microsoft Word, then copied and pasted it into an online format only to have your formatting go completely awry? The reason behind this is because many editors you use online for creating newsletters and emails are actually html editors. When you copy and paste from formats like MS Word, extra commands stow away in the text and confound the html editor. The solution? Before you paste your content into an online format, first paste into Note Pad (Windows) or Text Edit (Mac). Then copy and paste into your online program. This step strips all the extra commands and leaves you with squeaky clean text.
2. Don’t be a “two-spacer”. I have my sister to thank for this one, which I just learned recently. The accepted format for spacing after the end of a sentence is now one space, not two as I was taught not so long ago in high school. It may seem petty, but little details form impressions. The history? “It is generally accepted that the practice of putting two spaces at the end of a sentence is a carryover from the days of typewriters with monospaced typefaces. Two spaces, it was believed, made it easier to see where one sentence ended and the next began. Most typeset text, both before and after the typewriter, used a single space.” (source article)
3. Underline with care. While underlining was very commonly used to emphasize words in the past, times have changed. Notice above, the words “source article”? Why are they underlined? Because they are linked to another web site, of course, everyone knows that! I recently visited a web site and text was emphasized by underlining. I was frustrated, because I now automatically go to underlined text to link to other locations, and there were no links available. How to emphasize? Using bold, italics or CAPITALIZATION works to draw the eye…without frustrating the reader!

Let me warn you up front – you are NOT going to like the answer here. I don’t even like it. It’s too illogical for my Vulcan tendencies. But I’m going to tell you anyway, because it is the truth, and I get to tell a story. I love telling stories.

My husband is a real estate agent, and he just got a $1.7 million listing for a horse ranch in Flagstaff. Here’s how it happened…

Many years ago, Adam met Jim and Cindy Candle at a networking function. He kept in touch. Three years later, they asked him to sell their property. So Adam took on the listing and sold the property. He kept in touch. The Candles referred him to the Halseys to sell their high-end home. Adam listed their property and kept in touch. The Halseys were so happy with his work, the referred him to the Blartnicks (yes, these are all fictitious names). Adam sold the Blartnicks home and, working his tail off, found them their next home. The Blartnicks were so happy with Adam that they referred him to the Jellywigs (now I’m just having fun). The Jellywigs wanted to sell their home, so Adam went to tour the property. As he was touring, a former client of Adam’s came up in conversation as a mutual acquaintance. The Jellywigs knew this client (let’s call him Bob), and said they’d tell Bob that they met Adam. Within a week, Adam was contacted by Bob to list his $1.7 million horse property.

Now, in a million years, could Adam have orchestrated this precise sequence of events? Unlikely. But I’m sure you see the patterns that made this outcome possible. Here’s what I saw:

1.    He asked people he met if they would give him referrals.
2.    He kept in touch.
3.    He did a superb job for his clients.
4.    He kept in touch.
5.    He took the attitude that the universe is plotting to do him good. (aka “reverse paranoia”)
6.    He kept in touch.
7.    He worked consistently and diligently.
8.    He kept in touch.

The moral of the story is, obviously, to stay in touch with the people you meet, because you never know where it will lead you!

1. Find ways to make other people smile. I read a novel recently, and a character said, “Winning makes you feel great. Helping someone else win makes you feel great, longer.” Helping others gets you out of your own stress.

2. Create standards. Standards put priorities into practical application on a daily basis. In other words, they let you design your life. For instance, my standards include a definition of an ideal client, a minimum number of yoga classes per week and a maximum number of caffeinated beverages per day. Your list may also include specific business activity, such as a number of phone calls to clients or prospecting activity daily.

3. Address “nags” promptly. If there are things in your life that are nagging at you, such as bad news you have to break, or even just purchases waiting to be exchanged, take care of them. These little nagging tasks are incredibly draining and reduce your ability to deal with normal stresses.

4. Create systems. Creating systems – written step-by-step processes – reduces stress in two ways. First, it allows you to complete tasks without spending as much mental energy figuring it out each time.  And second, when it’s time to delegate the task, you spend less time explaining it to your assistant. This ties in directly to the next strategy.

5. Delegate. My guideline for delegation is simple: if it doesn’t require your personality or expertise, do everything you can to delegate it. Delegated your data entry and bookkeeping, and see if you don’t feel 20 pounds lighter! For most of us, delegating does not come naturally*, but it is absolutely worth it!

6. Go easy on yourself. Every single person I know, including me, is harder on themselves than on any other person in their lives. Accomplishments we’d congratulate others for, we judge as not good enough in ourselves. Really take a look at self-judgment, and give yourself a pat on the back for all of the great things you do.

7. Let it out, carefully. Don’t keep everything inside, but be selective who you confide in. Go to people who you know will sympathize, but who will also encourage you to move beyond the stress, and into solutions.

*Teaching delegation strategies is one of my areas of expertise. Please get in touch if you’d like some help.