The Turner Ink blog contains rants, bloopers, observations and opinions. It also has handy tips on grammar and punctuation such as colons: semicolons; and full stops. As well as some very useful ‘how tos’. Feel free to leave comments. Be nice though.

Turner Ink

Copywriting Services London

Archive for February 2010

‘My name is Sarah and I’m an email junkie’. The true story of email overload

24th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

I had a bit of a light bulb moment last week.

It was when I turned on my computer last Monday and saw I had 338 emails in my inbox.

Eeeek. How come so many? Well I don’t use RSS. So every blog update comes via email. And to be honest, I’ve been slack with my reading and filing. There were quite a few from clients of course. And the usual milions of updates from Amazon, Play, Sports Direct etc.

Immediately I felt under pressure. How long was it going to take me to get through this lot? A couple of hours? An afternoon? Whatever. It was time that could be better spent elsewhere.

And then it occurred to me: why the heck was I filing all these emails? I needed a new way of managing my inbox. And fast.

Help was immediately at hand.

One of the unopened emails was a blog post from Leo Babauta over at Zen Habits. When it comes to emails he suggests talking one of four actions:

1. Read and delete
2. Archive the stuff you want to look at later
3. Do a quick reply if you can do it in less than four sentences
4. Put it on a to-do list

He may have something there.

On Wednesday I met Rob Williams at a 4N networking event. He actually goes into companies and sets up their email systems. The trouble is that people still file emails like they’re using filing cabinets, he told me. So every piece of correspondence is saved, in folders, in alphabetical order.

He recommends dealing with emails like this:

1. Read and delete
2. Put in a folder to delegate
3. Put in a to-do folder
4. Put in an archive folder once dealt with

As Rob pointed out, there’s no need to create separate customer files, employee files, or project files. Just put all your emails in one archive file and use your search facility to find them. He told me some of his clients now have an extra hour a day which had been previously spent filing emails.

Wow.

My conversation with Rob was closely followed by two great posts I read at the end of last week: Merlin’s 5-step method for Managing your Inbox by Dean Rieck at Pro Copy Tips. And Email is Killing your Business by Michael Leis.

The guys above had given me some great tips on inbox management. Now I needed to go cold turkey.  

Checking all the folders on my PC I discovered the embarrassing truth: I have filed EVERY single email I have ever received from the likes of Ittybiz, Copyblogger, Search Engine Land, Chris Brogan and Daily Blog Tips. And I’ve filed them all in folders helpfully named, Ittybiz, Copyblogger, Search Engine Land, Chris Brogan and Daily Blog Tips. There were hundreds and hundreds of emails. I’d just got into the habit of reading and filing. Reading and filing. Reading and filing. And sometimes I hadn’t even read or filed. Hence the 338 emails now sitting in my inbox.

And here’s the joke. Have I ever gone back to the Copyblogger folder and looked for a particular email? Nope. I’ve just gone to the Copyblogger site and searched for it. Same with Ittybiz. On the rare occasion I couldn’t find a particular post I emailed Naomi directly and she emailed me back with the link.

And that was just emails from the bloggers I follow. How about client folders? There were hundreds of them as well. Every email carefully filed away with important stuff like ‘See you on Thursday at 12.30pm.’ Or ‘I’m away on Monday June 11th 2007 so can you email the copy to my marketing assistant?’

Crazy.

So what am I doing about it?

Since last Friday, every email that gets filed needs to meet the following criteria: it needs to contain information which helps me be a better copywriter. Or it needs to contain information which might be useful for a future blog post. If it doesn’t, it gets deleted. So that means all the emails from Mashable about the Apple iPad are going in the trash.

And I’ve started getting rid of all those client folders and their contents. I’m keeping a couple of important emails: the ones that say ‘we love what you’ve written’ and ‘please invoice us now’. Actually, they can probably go as well.

I’ve unsubscribed from Amazon et al.

And I’m going to use Skype text wherever possible, so I’m not clogging up someone else’s inbox. 

I’m aiming for minimal filing and a zero inbox.

Oh and if this blog post ends up in your inbox, read it – then delete it.

 

Got any tips for managing your inbox? Please share in the comments.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: emails, inbox
Posted in Business writing | comments icon 4 Comments »

Your dirty laundry is coming home to roost. And other metaphors, similes, idioms and clichés we love

19th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

I was thinking about metaphors on the journey into work this morning. And that’s because practically every single segment on the radio used a metaphor at some point.

Metaphors make a comparison between two things that are basically different but have something in common. So

Arsene Wenger was boiling mad over Porto’s dodgy goal
Bankers’ bonuses are difficult to swallow
The ball rocketed into the net
His recollection of events was foggy
London is a melting pot
He’s a rock

Of course the ball didn’t literally go like a rocket. But it did go very fast, like a rocket would. And London isn’t literally a melting pot. But it is full of all types of people, things, smells and colours. And some bloke isn’t literally a rock. But he is strong and sturdy. You get the drift.

And then I started thinking about similes, idioms and clichés. (Yeah, thank goodness it’s only a 15 minute drive.)

So what are similes? Similes are when two things are compared to each other and are said to be like or as something.

She felt as free as a bird
It fitted like a glove
That joke is as old as the hills
She was as thin as a rake
They were as scarce as hen’s teeth
He was as tough as old boots
Life is like a box of chocolates

How about idioms? An idiom is a common expression which is part of every day speech and often breaks all rules on grammar and meaning. In fact, the word idiom comes from the Greek idios meaning ‘one’s own, peculiar, or strange’.

The histories of some idioms such as skate on thin ice are obvious. Some are not. Here are a few of my favourite idioms.

Cat’s pyjamas
Gone for a burton
Sleep on a clothes line
Give the cold shoulder
Not my cup of tea
Fly off the handle
Go the whole hog
Keeping up with the Joneses
Don’t mince your words
In a pickle
Get the sack
Don’t shilly-shally
Back to square one
Storm in a teacup

Many idioms are metaphors such as bed of roses and on the back burner. Some idioms such as like a bear with a sore head and bald as a coot are similes. Some idioms are dyads – pairs of words joined by and – such as airs and graces, beer and skittles, and above and beyond.

Which brings us on to clichés.

Clichés are like their close relative idioms. But unfortunately, clichés have gone round the block once too often and have become overused and tired. Avoid them like the plague.

Move the goalposts
Another day another dollar
The ball is in your court
Laugh all the way to the bank
Blood, sweat and tears
Chomping at the bit
On time and on budget
Blast from the past
Can’t see the wood for the trees

Got any favourite idioms that you love to death? Or any clichés that you avoid at all costs? Let us know in the comments.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: clichés, idioms, metaphors, similes
Posted in Grammar tips, Word stuff | comments icon 1 Comment »

A sign of the times? Bloopers from around the UK

10th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

Friend and SEO colleague, Rob Dobson, emailed me this pic this afternoon from the Fulham Road, London. Hmmm…nice shop. Poor sign.

Window of La Maison Coloniale in Fulham

But La Maison is in good (bad?) company. Take a look at these corkers that have been sent to the MSN News site recently. 

Do not climb sign

Do not cling? Do not climb? Or what the heck. Let’s have both.

Help us reduce crime sign

Yeah, help us reduce crime against the English language.

Oxford Dictionary sign

I wonder if there were enough Ofxord Dictionary’s left to be handed out as leaving presents.

Waitress or waitor sign

We hope you’re fluent in English ‘cos we’re not. Although we make awesome stuffed olives.

 Tomato sign

You say tom-ah-to we say to-may-to. Let’s call the whole thing off.

Sue's Snax's sign

My personal fave. Sue’s Snax’s. So wrong. So very wrong.

Ladies powder room sign

I sort of love this sign. I like the fact the loo is referred to as a powder room. And it’s only 5p to have a tiddle. That’s a bargain.

What I especially like is one of the comments left on the MSN News site.

Also, in number 17, the apostrophe is not superfluous, merely in the wrong place as the word “ladies” is a plural, and the toilets are “ladies’ toilets”.

Oh, so it’s merely in the wrong place. That’s ok then.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: apostrophes
Posted in Bloopers, Grammar tips, Punctuation tips | comments icon 1 Comment »

A footballer, a judge, and a bunch of legal stuff

5th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

I have a sneaky regard for Mr Justice Tugendhat. Not least because I once stayed in his villa in France.

The esteemed Tugendaht, you may recall, last week revoked an injunction granted to England football captain, John Terry, blocking newspapers reporting his alleged affair with an England team mate’s Mrs. Waving the flag for free speech, Tugendhat decided it was in the public’s interest to know every vulgar detail about the loathsome Terry’s off pitch dalliances.

And to be honest, the sooner this lying, cheating, despicable oaf is ousted from his position as captain, so much the better. (There, I said it.)

But I do hate how legal types insist on making everything totally incomprehensible.

Take this, as reported in this week’s Private Eye.

“Notice has not been given to any newspaper when it should have been, and, as a result, I have not had the benefit of arguments in opposition to the application, which might have assisted me to be satisfied of the matters of which I am not satisfied.”

Now, when you read this about 15 times you eventually get the gist. But isn’t it about time the legal profession made a concerted effort to stop speaking in ‘legalese’?

Bookmark and Share

Posted in Word stuff | comments icon No comments yet »

Need any stationary?

2nd
Feb
by Sarah Turner

Business Stationary posterI spotted this on the Holloway Road this week.

Well we have just had a recession. So I guess some businesses may be stationary. But I don’t suppose this is what they are talking about.                                               

Come on people. This is a schoolboy error. The easiest way to remember the difference:  stationers (with an E) sell stationery (also with an E).                                

Bookmark and Share

Posted in Bloopers, Grammar tips | comments icon 2 Comments »

 

Definition of a blog: A blog or web blog is a website usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. (Wikipedia.com)