If you've come to my website to browse, contact me, or view my work, then welcome and thank you for being here.

I'm on a mini-vacation from today up until the 16th February, and it's a sort of self-imposed exile. I won't have access to my phone, computer, or emails. I'll be sleeping a lot and listening to a lot of motivational Mp3 downloads, by my favorite speakers like Ali Brown and Tony Robbins.

So please do stay on and check out my articles, leave me some comments, and download my latest ebook (available to the right of this article) - 5 DIY Marketing Tips to Rock Your Business!

If you'd like a quote or proposal, please leave me a message on my contact page or at usha@writechoiceforyou.com

And I'll see you next week!

While we assume companies, large or small, are happy to jump onto the social media bandwagon, if we actually spend some time researching it, there are plenty of businesses that hesitate to go down this route. Why avoid social media, when it's all about interaction, brand building, and social sharing? It can only do good things for your business!

No so, feel some companies who are taking pains to avoid visiting these channels. While their worry may be unfounded, in many instances, it's valid. Here's a look at some fears businesses may have about social media.

It can result in negative publicity: If people are saying 'negative' things about your company, don't you want to know about it? And do something to rectify this situation? Social media might give your detractors a tool to badmouth you, but it also gives you a chance to put things right. In fact, it's the ideal opportunity to learn what people are saying about your brand, and actively jump into the community to refute it.

You lose control: It's true, things can get out of control and it's easy for any situation - intended or unintended - to go viral. There should be certain systems in place to avoid such occurrences. This holds all the more true if you are giving your employees the freedom to post, comment, and respond on the company's social media channels. A case in example is the Kenneth Cole error on Twitter, which went viral. The company did get a chance to control it, but not before they received negative publicity. You can learn more about this and how to control social media on this excellent post: 8 Social Media Resolutions for 2012

It's time consuming: Social media is time consuming and you should be prepared to invest a few hours each week to get it right. Most companies with a successful online presence will post every single day on blogs and networks like twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn. But if you cannot do this, there are plenty of companies who will be happy to take over the responsibility of handling your social media account.

It leaves the door wide open for litigation: Businesses that are online need to understand there is a legal difference between private and commercial. So if you tweet on a personal level, you are afforded greater legal right for issues like defamation and copyright. If you tweet as a company however, there are certain cautions you should put into place, especially if you are multiple users on a single platform. Wondering what these are? Here are some Social Media Legal Issues to Watch Out For in 2012

Is your business on social media? Do you agree with the above? I'd love to hear your views and thoughts on this!

We all have our own writing styles, either learned from school or developed over the years. But when it comes to business writing, our approach often changes. We forget the basics in favor of what we believe is a more professional style of writing. Long winded sentences and pompous sounding phrases do not make for a more professional style. In fact, quite often, the opposite holds true. Here are some mistakes to avoid when it comes to correct business writing:

Mean what you say and say what you mean- Do not use phrases or words whose meaning you do not completely understand. It may sound okay to you in your sentence, but it could be completely wrong in the context in which it was written.

Use everyday words- The average person would prefer to read at a simpler level. Long winded sentences and words that require the reader to have a dictionary besides them, can be quite annoying and not in the least bit useful. As Albert Einstein advised: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” A long word is the right word, but only if it’s the best word.

Avoid euphemisms- A euphemism is when a person is trying to skirt around the issue by not naming the subject. An example is ‘House of ill repute’ for a Brothel. A euphemism is “the substitution of a more mild, indirect, or vague expression”. In politics and public relations, a euphemism is often referred to as ‘doublespeak’. We use euphemisms everyday and because of that, it often gets incorporated into our writing. They can be positive- You may use it to add a note of humor to a speech or by way of important sounding job titles- e.g. Health care professional for a nurse. Or negative- you may use it to disguise an unpleasant task in an email, such as firing an employee. However, either way, euphemisms can get in the way of effective communication. So use them with caution.

Some common business euphemisms are:

• take under advisement - consider
• consultant - an advisor
• downward adjustment - corporate double talk for a reduction
• erroneous report – corporate double talk for a lie
• prevaricate - to lie
• reverse engineering - corporate double talk for copy
• slack fill - corporate double talk for partially empty

Avoid tautologies- Tautologies are usually two or three words in a sentence that say the same thing twice. An example could be new innovation or advance planning.

Some other common business tautologies to avoid are:

• Very unique
• To reiterate again
• First priority
• Close proximity
• In my opinion, I think that...
• The reason is because
• Joint cooperation
• One after the other in succession
• Necessary requirement

Do you write for businesses? Your thoughts?

Looking for a job can be stressful. One has to contend with more experienced and educated candidates and an unstable economy. But today, there may be yet another category that challenges us. More and more employers are considering basing their hiring decisions on the candidates' Klout scores. While that's the fear many job hunters now face, the question being asked is does Klout make for a good recruitment tool?

What is Klout?

Klout has been called the 'standard for online and internet influence', and the company believes that anyone can play a role in influencing others. Klout assigns a score based on the following:

"    True Reach: How many people you influence
"    Amplification: How much you influence them
"    Network Impact: The influence of your network

Initially, Klout was used as a social tool, but as brands and organizations have entered the mix, some are considering it to be a prime recruitment tool.

The fact is that Klout cannot be the sole deciding basis when it comes to recruiting staff, especially as recently, thanks to changes Klout has made, scores have been questionably affected. Networkers with high engagement levels are acquiring low scores, while others who do not actively participate in online networking, have seen their scores increase. Equally important is the certainty that other factors -education, experience, and personality -must continue to play a vital role in a hiring decision.

Here's my Klout scores -not sure if I'd get hired based on them ;)

In the end, it's important to recognize Klout as another, not sole, tool in helping with the hiring process. Do you agree? Disagree? Do you use Klout to make hiring decisions? I'd love to hear from you, so don't be shy with the comments!