As most of my readers know, I’m a HUGE fan of the swipe file. So why it took me so long to find and use Evernote, I’ll never know.

I’ve had it on my iPhone for weeks now and only started using it last night started. Wowza! This is the electronic swipe file application I dreamed up in my head in the late 80s. Seriously.

Now there’s no excuse not to start and keep a swipe file. And Evernote makes it far easier to sort and find that little piece of information you just know you put somewhere.

I refer to my swipe file several times a month but I recently purged my office and made the mistake of purging some things I hadn’t used in years — just to save file cabinet space. Had I scanned it and put it on Evernote, well, you see where this is going. I would’ve had what I needed.

That’s it. Just wanted to make you aware of Evernote if you weren’t already. I’m off to start filling up my own Evernote swipe file …

Possibly related posts

• Use Twitter to practice writing more concisely (0)
• Survey: What do you do with what you learn? (0)
• Lessons learned from being burned: How to hire a freelancer or consultant (0)

Since hubby turned 50, we’ve become members of AARP; which means we receive (and enjoy) their excellent publications.

In the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of the AARP Bulletin, there’s a short article about a British survey commissioned by financial company AXA, and the subsequent renaming contest surrounding the word “pension.”

Turns out that nearly a fifth of 18- to 24-year-old Brits think the word pension is stodgy. (No duh.)

The winning replacement, submitted by 29-year-old Donna Wood of Hampshire, England is:

Save Now. Play Later.

Genius.

But what this really brings to mind is how we get stuck using words and phrases that have lost their relevancy. With business writing and marketing/communications, it’s far too easy to lapse into same-old, same-old boilerplate language.

No word or phrase should be sacred. Everything should be, at least periodically, rethought. Step back now and then and ask this question: “What does this word or phrase really mean to my reader?”

P.S. Hey, State Farm Insurance, are you listening? With the transient culture we live in, I’m pretty sure “Like a good neighbor” doesn’t resonate like it used to.

Possibly related posts

• Your web site content sucks. Here are 3 reasons why. (0)
• Survey: What do you do with what you learn? (0)
• If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em (0)

Ever been to a party and been trapped by a non-stop talker? Those standing monologues (especially the ones by complete and total strangers) are annoying at best and a buzzkill at worst.

Droning on and on without engaging in any kind give-and-take dialogue is absolutely awful for the person on the receiving end.

That’s what I like so much about Twitter. The microblogging site lets you “talk” but forces you to do so in short snippets of 140 characters or less.

I recently conducted an informal survey of people who follow me and found that most think using Twitter has helping them communicate more concisely (and hence effectively).

Now, mind you, long prose certainly has it’s place. But in business writing I see so much extraneous copy that it drowns the core message. Get to the core message quickly. Put it first. Your reader will thank you and be more likely to take the appropriate action.

If you’re not on Twitter, sign up for a free account. Follow a few people (me included) and start paring down your dialogue. I promise you’ll be the life of the next party you go to.

Possibly related posts

• What kind of writer are you? (0)
• Where’s the information? (Web content mistakes and how to avoid them.) (0)
• Evernote Is the Ultimate Go-Anywhere, Save-Anything Swipe File (0)