I worked with clients at enDevelopment to write this press release about the launch of CommonCents 3.0, personal budgeting software based on the envelope system. It was released today.

They used PRWeb to distribute the release and it seemed to work well. The package they chose allowed them to add this overview video of the budgeting software.

(I know it’s hanging over the edge of my theme. Sorry.)

So take this as it’s intended: a friendly reminder for those who already know it, and a quick lesson for anyone who was absent that day in English class.

A person is a “who” and a thing is a “that,” thus:

Wrong: The girl that wrote my marketing copy is fabulous.
Correct: The girl who wrote my marketing copy is fabulous.
Also correct: The writer who wrote my marketing copy is fabulous.

Easy-peasey. As a bonus, I’m going to throw in “which” for free:

Wrong: The writer, which wrote my fabulous marketing copy, is not uppity about grammar.
Correct: The writer, who … (Okay, you get it. )

Update: Like so many other hard-and-fast rules of grammar, this one isn’t hard or fast. See this post by the Grammar Girl, who shows how the who/that sits in a gray area. (But she’s on my side.)

It’s an “awareness” month. Can you guess from the title which one?

No Buts About It

But before you run off to report me (tattle-tale), or to cram your copy with them because “Carolyn said it was okay,” let me clarify:

I love cliches with the kind of affection people bestow upon puppies and kittens. And while puppies and kittens can be very effective persuaders, they won’t work in every situation. (I’ll write more someday, I’m sure, about using what works for your business rather than just something everyone says “works,” in general. It’s important.) So I’m not saying you should necessarily use them.

My fondness for cliches is born of awe. Once, long ago, they weren’t cliches. They were original expressions that either by extreme brilliance or happy accident said something JUST RIGHT. So right, their meaning resonated with us. And we loved them so much, we adopted them.

Oh, I know. We get tired of hearing them, like the “new” jokes a first-grader brings home from school.

But that actually makes my point. Think, for a moment, about the chicken that crossed the road. It’s still delightful to any 7-year-old hearing it for the first time. So simple, and yet, so exquisitely unexpected. Perfect!

To get to the other side. To get to the other side!

So yes, in general, avoid cliches in your writing, but don’t be smug. When was the last time you wrote something so good it was absorbed by humankind? The originators of these colorful expressions did what any writer wants to do. We want to give voice and structure to thought. We want to communicate and to connect. In other words, we want to get to the other side.

Then he does it. Actually, he leaves religious groups alone. His message to WAHMs is simple: it’s bad business to market yourself as a WAHM unless your prospective clients are other WAHMs. According to Stratten, the WAHM label may carry with it a negative connotation. At best, it is irrelevant to whether you can do the job for your prospective clients.

I suspect his intention with the post is to raise the ire (and gain the notice) of those who proudly embrace the moniker. And just so I’m not a total cynic, I’ll allow that he may truly want to do some good by warning mothers away from using a term that will diminish their marketing efforts.

Choose your words wisely and with intent. If your prospects value the WAHM title, use it. If they don’t, don’t. On the other hand, I don’t advocate trying to hide it. If you set up your website so that you appear to be a large agency in a high-rise office building, the first scream of “Mommy, I pooped!” while you’re on the phone with a client is going to give you away. And if I was the client, I would immediately feel uncertain about your honesty.

That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to advertise your WAHM status with cute buttons and links to coupon sites. In that, I completely agree with Stratten. A link to your “mommy blog” might be perfectly appropriate; it depends–as does everything else in your promotional materials–on whether it’s relevant to your market.

But take note: When huge companies like Wal-Mart and Frito-Lay enlist the services of moms because they are moms, it doesn’t do to dismiss out-of-hand the possible added value of your WAHM status.

The year 2009 is as exciting as a blank page. What will you write on it?

I have some ideas for how I want to write my story this year.

Although he calls it the Freelance National Anthem, I think this speaks to freelancers around the world, nation non-exclusive.

For the record, I work in my pajamas.

Alternate link: Freelancers National Anthem, by Bill Dyszel

I made the shortbread cookies again. This time, I didn’t have the distractions of the post-school/supper-making frenzy, and they turned out perfectly. (Although I still blame my oven for that last attempt.) I also did not slather them with chocolate, since they clearly are meant to be enjoyed in all their buttery simplicity:

Here’s my attempt at a little food-styling…

Okay. Back to work. I’m sure I was supposed to be doing something besides baking and taking photographs.

Of course, I had to slather them with chocolate.

And someone tried to sneak one. (This photograph was her idea. I think she has a natural talent for multimedia communication somewhere there in her extensive skillset.)

But I can hardly blame her! They were incredibly easy and very good. Thanks to Charmian for the 3-ingredient shortbread cookies recipe.