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Writing and Publishing

Pen Names

Authors use pen names for assorted reasons. Here are some that come to mind. To Hide Their Identity Sometimes an author needs to not identify themselves to protect them and their loved ones. This might be because they write about a highly volatile topic or a significantly personal one. A pen name protects them and […]

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Business

Consistency Matters Most

Tell Your Customers What to Expect and Deliver it Every Time By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Moving required finding a new place to service my car. A well-maintained auto repair business sat just down the street from our home, less than half a mile away. A neighbor, though he had never gone there, said they […]

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Writing and Publishing

Analyze Your Short Stories

Analyze Your Short Stories In my post “Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long,” I talked about the benefits of writing short stories. I’ve catalogued mine and analyzed them. You should analyze your short stories too. Here Are My Results So far, I’ve written 23 short stories (plus one that turned into a novella). […]

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Writing and Publishing

Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long

Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long In “How to Write a Book,” I posted that the best approach for aspiring book authors is to start out with shorter pieces. No one wants to hear that, but it’s true. Shorter pieces let writers experiment and learn—quickly. Feedback is fast. And in an online world, […]

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Telephone Answering Service

Where Are Your Clients Located?

Align Sales and Marketing Strategy with Client Geographic Distribution By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Since you can target online ads to specific markets, conduct a geographic analysis of where your customers are located. Let the results inform future ad targeting.  Here are some considerations: Local Market Though there’s no longer a technical reason to go […]

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Writing and Publishing

Podcasts about Writing and Publishing

In 2016 I posted “Recommended Podcasts for Writers and Content Producers.” Though I’ve made some updates to my writing podcasts post over the years, it’s time to make a new post. Of that list of 17 podcasts, six have ceased and one I stopped listening to. That means 10 have remained, some of which have […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Send Your Call Center Back to School

Now Is an Ideal Time to Enhance the Skill Level of Your Telephone Staff By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. We live in interesting times, to say the least. Too often the healthcare call center industry spends much time focusing on the crisis of today that it squashes all thought about planning for tomorrow. Once we […]

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Writing and Publishing

How to Format Thoughts in Writing

Writers are often unsure of how to format thoughts in their writing. Thoughts are best put in italic and do not include quotes. For example: I hope this description makes sense to you. An attribute tag, such as “he thought” is not used, since the person doing the thinking should be obvious from the context. […]

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Business

Penny Wise and Dollar Foolish

Customer Service Failure Exists in Both Big and Small Ways  By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD After moving from one town to another, I continued working with my long-time business accountant. Though most of our interactions occurred over the phone and through email, I persisted in making an hour-long trek to his office each tax season. […]

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Writing and Publishing

What Social Media Content Strategy Is Right for You?

Some writers post new material on social media. Others repeat content from their blog. I do neither. Here’s why. Republishing the whole post isn’t a good idea because it repeats content, and search engines dismiss duplicate content. And I feel it’s too time-consuming and therefore not a good use of my time to write new […]