Many writing teachers and coaches offer all manner of rules for optimum writing. Do this; don’t do that. Always include this one element; never use another. These rules make my head spin and threaten to paralyze my writing. Is it possible to compose even one sentence that doesn’t violate some critical principle? Though I’ve given […]
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Don’t Make Me Have To Get Mad
Training Customers to Abuse Staff By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Several years ago, a female associate and I traveled to a convention. At the hotel there were long lines at the registration desk. Eventually advancing to the front, we learned only my room was available; my co-worker’s reservation was cancelled. The hotel, by the way, […]
As writers, we all have strengths and weaknesses. One person’s forte may be another person’s nemesis. It’s wise to know where we excel as writers and what trips us up. For myself, I’m good at editing for length and ensuring a piece flows, something I do every day at work. I’m good at spotting needless […]
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Every Author Needs a Bio
Your book is going to need an author bio. The best time to write your bio is before you need it. That means you should start now. (See “Why You Should Write Your Author Bio Now.”) For a short piece, writing our own bio (that is, a concise autobiography) can be confoundingly frustrating. One challenge […]
This weekend I’m attending Grand Rapids WordCamp, a fun, but intensive, two-day event about WordPress. The meeting is geared towards developers, so it’s mostly more technical than we writers need for our WordPress blogs and websites. I went to last year’s event. Though much of it provided more detail than I needed, I picked up […]
Blogger Shares 12 Tips For Better WordPress Content Creation Aug. 12, 2014 – Peter Lyle DeHaan will speak at this weekend’s WordCamp in Grand Rapids Michigan. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events, put on by WordPress users for WordPress users, including everyone from casual hobbyists to core developers. Peter will share with attendees: “12 Tips For […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Two common ways to grow a telephone answering service are through acquisitions and via sales and marketing. A third way is to provide additional services. With the announcement that Frontier will offer texting on business landlines, TASs will have the opportunity to offer more services. In some cases, the need […]
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Finding a Place to Write
A month ago in my post, “The Rhythm of Writing,” I shared that my wife and I moving would interrupt my writing. My blog posts for the past three Saturdays reflected this, as I provided the starting point and gave you the opportunity to finish my posts by 1) promoting your blog, 2) working on […]
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What’s Your Happy Place?
I sometimes give writing prompts on this blog, but it’s been a long time. Here’s one for today: whether real or imagined, describe your happy place. Share your happy place in the comment section below.
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The Fast-Food Factor
Does Your Call Center Have a Fast-Food Hiring Mentality? By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. I’ve never met anyone who felt they were overpaid. Occasionally someone will admit to being adequately compensated, but most people say their pay doesn’t reflect their work or value to the organization. This is especially true of call center agents. I’ve […]