… heard about some snow.

It was a story on the radio (hey kids – a “radio” is a thing that plays live … never mind) about Buffalo, New York, which just received six and a half feet of snow in some areas.

Or, as the reporter said, “That’s equal to the height of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.”

Why are they doing that? I have a pretty good idea of how much six and a half feet is and I rarely measure things in “units of Josh Allen.”

Two reasons…

#1. Six and a half feet is a dry, lifeless stat. Using a real person makes it more relatable, more alive.

#2. The snow was in Buffalo and Josh Allen plays there. That ties the entire thing together in a way that saying the snowfall was “as tall as actor Dwayne Johnson” (for example) would not.

All this to say that we, too, should be using relatable, real life examples in the things we write, the presentations we give, and the stories we share with clients and others.

Gotta run. My wife, who is two inches taller than Tom Cruise, is waiting for me to eat lunch.

… found a broken link.

I was about to send a client a preview of his newsletter and discovered that one of the links – a link that supposedly never changes and links to the same page every time we publish – wasn’t working.

It turned out to be a setting error on my browser (long story) and the link was fine.

But it reminded me of the importance of doing two final things whenever you send out a bulk email: check every link and do a spell check.

You still won’t catch everything, but you’ll catch most and avoid having to send those follow-up “oops” emails we all receive so often!

… wasted the morning.

At least that’s how one person responded when I told him I make a point of regularly sending emails to friends / associates / colleagues, just to keep in touch.

No agenda. No sales pitch. No “keep me in mind if you know of anyone who might need…”

Just saying hello and keeping the relationship alive and healthy.

So, is it a waste of time?

Only if you object to having the people you know tell the people they know all about you when the opportunity arises.

… have four things I plan to do.

There are probably 100 things I could do … but only four I consider “must do.”

One of the great things about working for yourself is that there are no schedules or deadlines handed to you.

That’s also a potential problem. It’s easy to just work and work, because the truth is, you’ll never get it all done today and there’s nobody looking over your shoulder.

That’s why I start every workday by writing down the three or four things I plan to accomplish.

Anything else is extra. As long as I get those done, I can feel good about my progress.

One down, three to go.

… found a typo.

I was giving a client newsletter one last read before sending.

And even though I had written it and reread it at least a dozen times since, I didn’t catch a small word that was in the wrong tense.

But, because I always do a final proof out loud, and even though I hadn’t seen it (and both spellcheck and grammar check missed it) I heard it, and it caught my attention.

When you proofread out loud, you involve another sense in the process. (Hmm… maybe I should try tasting what I write too?)