All writers can use help from time to time, whether they are just beginning a complex assignment or punching up the language in a piece that they have already written.

When I need inspiration or a reminder to keep my writing fresh, I often turn to Jack Hart’s A Writer’s Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work. As editor at large and writing coach for The Oregonian, Hart addresses all the painful parts of writing: organizing a project, getting started and refining a draft.

We refer to Hart’s work in one of MCG’s ProFound training sessions about writing clearly and creatively and have found his advice to be reader-friendly, sound and even funny. An example? His tongue-in-cheek lexicon of journalese defines “hammer out” as follows: “Negotiators hammer out – never reach – an agreement. At, of course, the eleventh hour.”

Click Here to see his book on amazon.com.

Lately, we’ve been meeting with clients and our own team members about branding, positioning statements and taglines. The strongest statements are those that are not only short and sweet, but they instantly make sense – i.e. they reflect what audiences already know about you. For example, if your unique business proposition is doing something quickly and that’s what your customers like about you, go with that. Or if your products are high-end, don’t be afraid to claim a luxury positioning.

Michael Clark, COO, APR

Regardless of your niche, be sure your actions back up your business promise. Case in point: in 1981 ad agency Lowe Howard-Spink came up with the tagline, “Reassuringly expensive,” for premium beer Stella Artois. Because they knew there was a market for consumers in this category, they decisively stuck with who they are, and today their commercial features a passenger train rail-car disconnected from the line and left behind in order to prevent a server on board from spilling a single drop.

This year we invested a great deal of time and energy working on our agency’s brand, developing mission and vision statements, and then ultimately a tagline that would help define what we do. We ended up with just three words: Relationships. Reputation. Results. These are the things we help our clients achieve. Short and sweet, yes, but more importantly, we hope it is what our clients already know about us.

For those of you who have not gone through this process or you are still searching for the right way to frame up what you do, ask yourself three things:

1. What do your customers say they like best about your organization?
2. What do you think sets you apart from your competitors?
3. Can you consistently fulfill a brand promise to do and be those things every day?

If you can answer these questions with some certainty, you are on your way to creating a positioning statement that not only accurately defines your brand, but also rings true with those who matter most.

It’s finally here – our new website and this blog. This is something we have been planning for over a year, and I am thrilled the time finally came to go live.

Although many of us blog on our own, this is the first time we as an agency have had online space devoted to an ongoing conversation about all things communication. Our goal is to bring forward topics, ideas and issues on a timely basis worth consideration or debate.

We invite you to join the conversation whenever the spirit moves you. We also invite you to read or follow any of us on our own blogs or Twitter accounts: www.twitter.com/elisemitch and www.linkedin.com/in/elisemitch

Thanks for visiting — please come again soon.