Jackie Huba (photo left), principal at Ant's Eye View, writes:

At first blush, a complaining customer is not something we have on our wish list of awesome things in the world.

But this type of customer contact provides a great opportunity to do something remarkable that will build loyalty and word of mouth. Research shows this to be true. Customer experience research firm TARP finds that customers who complain and are satisfied are up to 8% more loyal than if they had no problem at all (PDF).

The seven punctuation mistakes that make you look stupid include the following:

1. Being outsmarted by "smart quotes."
2. Using a hyphen as a dash or colon.
3. Using ellipses as a toy.
4. The old half-a-paren trick.
5. Using a comma between a label and labelee.
6. Leaving the apposition door open.
7. Using a semicolon where a comma would do.

Steve Roesler (photo left), Principal and Founder of The Steve Roesler Group, writes:

You have a message. You want to be more persuasive.  Whether you are an employee, business owner, student, blogger, etc. you need to be heard. 

We're all marketers trying to impact a world that's drowning in information.

Here are 10 ways to be more persuasive.

If you ever wondered why some presentations and keynote speakers really connect with you, it’s often because they use the power of storytelling and great images (rather than bulletpoints) that help their audiences to visualize their message.

In this fascinating Ted Talk recently posted online, information designer Tom Wujec discusses why animation, graphics and illustrations are powerful ways to create meaning for audiences emotionally.

Steve Roesler(photo left), principal and founder of The Roesler Group,  writes the following:

This is useful to everyone, especially in a career world that is so overwhelmingly global.

You'll find "experts" on body language and rants about the meaning of this gesture or that one. Much of this is true, with one huge caveat: you have to be patient and carefully synthesize the totality of the gestures and mannerisms in order to develop some degree of accuracy.

I have seen a lot of marketing professionals over the years give some pretty awful presentations. But Seth Godin appears to be one marketing "guru" who has given serious thought to how to design appropriate messages and accompanying visuals. Seth gets it. Can we call Seth's presentation approach the "Godin Method"? (See the "Kawasaki Method" and "Takahashi Method".)

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How do you keep up a first-rate job search from when you first start your search to when you get hired? Start with igniting a motivational wick. But how do you then direct your emotional charge? Let's start with a brief motivation test.

Image credit: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston(photo left) writes:

This week I deleted a comment left here. The meat of the comment made sense, but it closed with this command: "Get with the times and get down off your high horse."

As a proponent of excellent, courteous business communication, I deleted the comment because it ended with a rude slap. When I emailed the writer, who described himself or herself as "Grammar Police," I explained that I welcomed a new comment without the closing statement. My message came back as undeliverable. The email address Grammar Police had given did not exist.

Diane DiResta, President of DiResta Communications, writes:

Imagine you're in an elevator and you meet a perfect prospect. As the doors close you have 60 seconds to introduce yourself and attract their interest.

How do you succinctly and clearly get your message across when you only have a minute?

A good elevator pitch tells the listener what you do, how it benefits them, and the results they can expect.

I have written a lot about writing condolences to people who have experienced a serious loss--deaths in the family and environmental tragedies.

But recently I caught part of a KUOW radio program The Conversation, which focused on Unemployment Etiquette. I realized that messages to those who have lost a job can be just as sensitive and awkward as those to peope who have experienced a death. Losing a job can be the death of an identity, financial stability, and a predictable future. And we are writing to the person who has died.

So what should we say to those who have lost a job?