Judging by these two examples, Ziff-Davis has schizoid tendencies. One half corporate hogwash; the other quite normal
Here is the opening to a typical email from Ziff-Davis.
It is headed Connecting Social Interactions Throughout the Customer Lifecycle.
Gets the old pulse racing, eh? And just to rev up the excitement, the message begins:
As enterprises focus their efforts on improving the customer experience and connecting customer touchpoints, they should review the data and tools that customers use along
their lifecycle.
Social media, while not viewed as a traditional business-customer interaction tool, is increasingly becoming away for customers to obtain information about products and services. Customers are using social media to get advice from their peers, research products and services, and ask for post-purchase support. Enterprises should use this information to get a clearer view of the customer experience, and also to influence customers through proactive social support and messaging.
Clearly the writer was given simple instructions. ”Imagine you are a pretentious corpse writing to other corpses.”
That e-mail is typical of Ziff-Davis and many others like them who live in corporate zombie-land.
But something strange happened yesterday. Another writer seems to have tried writing like a human to other humans.
This email offers a free e-book, is headed: 7 Principles to Upgrade Your Work and Life, and whilst repetitive has some good stuff:
“You tell yourself… It would be selfish and reckless of me to try to break out of my box; I have a family to support, massive student loans to pay off. I can’t afford to take that risk. But still, you want in. You want a piece of the new creative economy, the happiness economy, or the purpose-driven career path. You want to make a difference, set a vision, set a course for your life.
The whole paradigm of work is changing, and many of us are still stuck under the thumb of the boss in our life when what we want is to be the boss of our own life. We crave the freedom to manage our own time, to be valued for who we are. We want a career that encourages risk and excitement, growth and personal development, learning and exploration.”
That’s more like it – though they could have got rid of that ghastly “paradigm”. Why not “The way we work is changing”?
But what is extraordinary about all this is that Ziff-Davis are publishers. You would think they would know how to write, but it seems not.
If you know anyone suffering from Ziff-Davis syndrome, suggest they try How to Write and Persuade. If that doesn’t work they can always get their money back.
Best,
Drayton
