Confucian consulting: How to hit the mark every time

"It is rare for a man to miss the mark through holding on to essentials."

I tend to be a minimalist. I love minimalist design and architecture, I don't have lots of advertisements, unnecessary information or menu items on this website (even less on my other main site), I don't like clutter in my house, and I even run barefoot or in minimalist shoes.

Confucian consulting: Are you in it for the money?

"If one is guided by profit in one's actions, one will incur much ill will."

 

I got into consulting by accident. In fact, I had been doing it for several years before I even realised that what I was doing was 'consulting'.

Confucian consulting: Ancient solutions for modern problems

Although Confucius lived some 2500 years ago, his philosophy is timeless.

The advice he gave, the things he stood for and the lessons he taught remain relevant even today, and I often find myself referring to The Analects for inspiration or guidance.

It is because of this I have decided to start a series entitled Confucian consulting, and I hope my desire to share worthwhile advice overrides my feeling like a pretentious arse for writing such pieces in the first place.

I'm no sage or guru, but I've been making an effort to put a lot of what I learn into practice, whether it's from Confucius or elsewhere, so I'm making an effort to silence my inner cynic in the hope that somebody will find the articles interesting and informative.

Hopefully somebody like you.

New course: The Creative Instinct

I'm very happy to introduce a new three-part course on writing, marketing and creativity called The Creative Instinct.

The course has been developed over the last few years through working with students and clients and has been condensed into three main components:

Poor grammar costs you money: Part two

I asked people from various backgrounds and countries the following questions:

1) Would poor grammar and spelling errors in promotional material affect your choice to use, purchase or endorse products and services?

2) Would the industry matter?

In this part, I look at the whether the industry is important and, first, whether writing in a foreign language would influence opinion.

Poor grammar costs you money: Part one

I garuntee that bad grammer will make you loose money.

What impression does the sentence above give you?

I imagine words like 'unprofessional' and 'sloppy' spring to mind. What if I told you that it was real copy from a company offering business advice and copywriting services? Are you likely to hire them?

The copy goes on to give some reasons why 'you shuld listen too' them, but I doubt that many people ever get to the reasons.

The ways in which language is used, and misused, is central to my work, so I wanted to find out just how much poor spelling and grammar would affect public perception of businesses. To do so, I asked people from various backgrounds and countries the following questions: