It especially bothered me because I was sure it was another made-up word (see “anticar” and “za“). However, I learned that it is, in fact, a word.

But What Does It Mean?

Good question.

If you trust Scrabble Finder, you will find the following definition:

n. – East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvet-textured blooms and yielding a yellow dye

However, my bookmarked online dictionary, Dictionary.com, lists:

noun

transportation by relays of people or horses, especially in the East Indies.

mail delivered by such transportation.

So which is it?

Personally, my money is on the transportation and mail definitions. More dictionaries use the same (or very similar) definitions and I’ve seen “dhak” listed as a tree.

Hmm, I wonder if “dhak” is an acceptable Words with Friends word.

By the way, if you want some other – shall we say interesting – definitions of “dak,” check out Urban Dictionary. (I won’t write those here.)

Checking In

After reading Heather’s post, I thought about my own business and how the year was progressing. The year started with such promise. I made SMART goals, implemented routines to keep me on track, and increased my client base.

Then I got sick. It was nothing serious, just a nasty winter cold/sinus infection. Although this was not a serious illness, it was enough to keep me from working for about a week. (It’s difficult to write and edit when it hurts to just pick up your head.)

As a full-time staff of one, unexpectedly missing a week of work can really cause a backup.

In addition to falling behind in my work, a project took an unexpected turn from enjoyable to troublesome. It took up more time than it should have and I missed my opportunity to nip the situation in the bud. The combination of trying to catch up and dealing with a less-than-ideal client caused a few problems. I found that I:

• Was overwhelmed and frustrated.
• Lost my passion and motivation.
• Stopped utilizing the beneficial systems I had put in place at the beginning of the year.

The dysfunction spread to the rest of my life. My exercise routine became virtually non-existent and my eating habits deteriorated. This just made me feel more lethargic and apathetic. It was a vicious cycle.

It took me several weeks to even realize there was a problem, let alone figure out how to fix it.

Having Fun Isn’t the Problem

Freedom is one of the reasons I love owning my own business.

If I want to take a trip, I can. If I want to go for a run in the middle of the day, I can. If I want to check Facebook every hour, I can.  If I want to sleep in and work late, I can.

I can do all of those things because I create my own schedule. The work still has to get done, but when and how it gets done is at my discretion. Normally, this concept works well for me. However…

When I am in a downward spiral of sorts, I focus on the fun perks and almost forget about the work. Don’t get me wrong, it still gets done, but I push it off and build it up in my head so much that it becomes this horrible, looming menace.

Where’s the fun in that?

Enjoying What You Do

The reality is: I focused so much on the “fun” that I turned work into a monster. I wanted to hide from projects because they seemed so horrendous. But you know what? They weren’t bad at all.

In fact, 10 years ago I would have killed to get paid to write. Unlike many people, I actually enjoy writing and editing. It used to be an escape for me. But somehow, somewhere along the way, I lost my perspective. The writing and editing became something I had to do and not something that I wanted to do.

I needed to wake up and realize that I truly do love my job.

The Power of And

The trick is simple (and it’s no trick at all). I just have to stop looking at it as I am either writing for enjoyment or writing for a client. I can do both at the same time!

Ever since I read the book Built to Last – long before restaurant and car commercials highlighted the concept – I have embraced “the genius of the and.”

I love the idea of balance: Yin and Yang.

You can have the best of both worlds. You just have to shift your focus and allow yourself to embrace the power of and.

Thankfully, I can see it again … and I am looking forward to serving clients and enjoying what I do!

With so much to remember, it’s hard to fault people with poor grammar … OK, I lied. We all took similar English classes. If English is your first language, I am most likely shaking my head when I read your grammatically incorrect Facebook posts. I can’t help it! (Don’t be surprised, you are reading a post on the Grammar Snob blog.)

Grammar Fools

Have you ever been lectured on “proper grammar” only to think, “Who talks like that? This can’t be right.” You may have been onto something.

You’ve most likely been taught:

• You can’t end a sentence with a preposition.
• It is incorrect to split infinitives.
• Sentences cannot start with a conjunction.
• “I” is used for a subject. “Me” is an object. (Yes, I just used “me” as a subject, but it’s OK, I’m a professional.)

Well, one out of four isn’t bad.

That’s right; the first three rules are incorrect.

Don’t Take My Word for It

My friends have accepted the fact that I have grammar issues and love me anyway. (As they should, since I love them despite their lack of grammar skills.) My colleagues have called me “anal in a good way” when it comes to grammar and editing.

Because of this, I am often sent grammar related comics and links on Facebook and Twitter and through email. Recently, I received a link to a Smithsonian article: Most of What You Think You Know About Grammar Is Wrong.

These authors know their stuff. They explain why it’s OK to end a sentence with a preposition, begin a sentence with a conjunction, and split infinitives (or at least what you thought were infinitives).

Check out the article, and then feel free to send an email to your English teacher explaining why you were right.

Photo credit: © Firebrandphotography | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

Recently, the word “anticar” was played against me. “Anticar,” really?

Very Little Evidence This Is a Word

Look up “anticar” on Scrabble Finder and you will find:

No Definition of ‘anticar’ Found – It’s still good as a Scrabble word though!
Anticar is worth 9 points in Scrabble, and 11 points in Words with Friends

So Scrabble Finder, which uses the official Tournament and Club Word List (the official Scrabble dictionary used for Scrabble tournaments in the US and Canada), cannot find a definition for “anticar,” but for some reason still considers it a word. This is crazy!

To make matters worse, my go-to online lexicon, Dictionary.com, states:

No results found for anticar:
Did you mean antica?

(In case you were wondering, “antica” is the plural of “anticum,” which is a front porch.)

Where Did the Word Come From?

So, how did “anticar” become a word?

My guess is someone made it up and/or decided to leave the hyphen out of “anti-car.”

I was able to find a definition (two actually) on Wiktionary (an online dictionary that can be edited by anyone, similar to Wikipedia, so I tend to take it with a grain of salt). Wiktionary lists:

Etymology: anti- +‎ car

Adjective
anticar: Opposed to automobiles or the excessive use of automobiles

Noun
anticar (plural anticars): An automobile that defies the normal idea of a car

The first noted use of the word that I could find is from the 1986 book about the auto industry: The Reckoning by David Halberstam.

“He considered the Falcon an anticar. He thought it served the puritan bias of the man who made it more than the needs of the customers or the company.”

I don’t know who the “he” is that Halberstam mentions, but I wish he referred to the Falcon as an “anti-car” so we could have avoided this conversation.

Is your business flailing? Are you overwhelmed with a backlog of work? Have you lost clients? Did a strong, new competitor seem to appear out of nowhere?

At these moments, it is easy to give up.

However, forging forward may be the best for you in the long run. It may be complicated, but succeeding despite adversity can be the greatest victory.

Some Inspiration to Get You Through

I don’t have the solutions to your problems. But, I do want to share the following quotes with you. Hopefully, they will provide inspiration and help you through this time.

“Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems.”
- Paul J. Meyer

“Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.”
- Victor Kiam

“There’s no such thing as a failure who keeps trying. Coasting to the bottom is the only disgrace.”
- John Popper, Just Wait lyrics

Remove the Fear

Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying.

Even if it doesn’t work out, you will never have to wonder, “what if.”

Just keep going. Good luck!

Photo credit: © Chrisharvey | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

1.2 trillion. Wow. That’s a lot of potential customers. Without an online presence, your business could be losing customers and revenue.

However, if you choose the wrong marketing firm or SEO copywriter, you may be doing more harm than good.

Know What You Are Getting

You need to have a strong online presence and to properly optimize your website. But, how do you know who to trust?

Unfortunately, there are many “SEO experts” out there who rely on:

• Old methods that once worked, but are no longer effective
• Bad “tricks” that could get your website banned by Google
• Fake metrics (focusing on “results” that really don’t help you)

As a business owner, you may not know what the best practices for online marketing are. This makes it difficult to determine who is providing you with a valuable service and who is selling you BS.

Grab Search Traffic the Right Way (Avoiding the Wrong Ways)

There are many credible SEO and online marketing experts out there. Below are some articles that can help you figure out who to avoid and what to look for when updating your website:

• 5 ways an SEO copywriter can screw your brand: In this guest post on the Raven blog, I explain five ways a bad copywriter can hurt your brand and your online marketing efforts.
• SEO is no excuse for “cre8ive” spelling and grammar: Written for the SuccessWorks blog, this post highlights the need to proofread and the importance of proper grammar and spelling.
• 3 ways SEO can ruin content: SEO copywriting veteran Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses how SEO (when done incorrectly) can ruin your content and turn off your audience.
• Top 10 Bad SEO Ideas: Eric Enge at Stone Temple Consulting warns you of bad SEO practices that could hurt your website. Eric’s list goes beyond copywriting and tackles a myriad of shady optimization methods.
• 12 Warning Signs of a Bad SEO Company: This About.com post highlights red flags that should send you running if they are proposed by a marketing firm.

Resources to Lead You to the Right Path

If you are looking for other reliable resources when it comes to proper online marketing, there are many true experts. Some reputable resources include:

• SEOMoz Blog
• SuccessWorks SEO Copywriting Blog
• Search Engine Land
• BlueGlass Blog
• Marketing Land
• Official Google Blog

Be in the Know, but Leave It to the Experts

There is a lot of helpful and accurate information available to help you setup and market your website. Most likely, you could learn enough to tackle your online marketing efforts on your own.

However, proper content marketing and website optimization can take a lot of time – especially if you are teaching yourself along the way.

My recommendation: keep your knowledge current so you know what you need (and who to trust), but use your time to grow your own business and hire a professional to market your services and products.

Investing in a reputable marketing firm now will save you money (and headaches) later.

Photo credit: © Wisconsinart | Dreamstime.com

Now that I know its definition, I am more convinced it is a made-up word.

Do you know what it means? You may be as shocked – and possibly offended – as I was.

Who Uses that Word?

Last week, I discussed “mucosae.” And, although I have no use for this word, I can see that it is a real word that it may be used by scientists, researchers, and those in the medical community.

However, it is difficult to believe that anyone actually uses the word “za.”

Ready for the definition? According to Dictionary.com (and several other dictionaries), “za” is American slang for pizza.

Yes, I said pizza.

There’s Something Wrong Here

I grew up in New Jersey. We take our pizza seriously. We eat New York-style pizza and know it should be folded when eaten. You either order a “pie” (entire pizza) or a “slice” (or two).

But, I never have heard anyone order a “za.” In fact, now that I know what it means, I think it’s pretty dumb – and really lazy!

After some research, I discovered that I am not the only one who feels this way about “za.” In one article, employees at a pizza place had never heard the term. Also, there are several online discussion threads that describe specific ways of hurting anyone who refers to pizza this way.

To further support my distaste for this word, Scrabble Finder states:

No Definition of ‘za’ Found – It’s still good as a Scrabble word though!

What?

Who Was in Charge of Adding this Word?

As noted on the 11 Points blog:

Apparently late ’80s stoner lingo for pizza is on the up-and-up in Scrabble. But I checked: Bodacious, cowabunga, bombdigity and dicknose are not approved.

So who is in charge of adding new words to the Scrabble dictionary? For that matter, who added it to the Merriam-Webster dictionary?

Annoyed, but Still Competitive

I still question the validity of “za” and refuse to use it when referring to pizza.

That being said, if I can use “za” on a Words with Friends triple-word tile, I’ll still use it (and pretend I don’t know why it’s considered a word). Hey, a girl needs to stay competitive.

Pizza box photo credit: © Modernimage | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

This concept is important because – as you probably know – the best ideas come and go quickly and, if you don’t catch them when they surface, you could lose them forever.

Brilliance Has Its Own Schedule

Forcing creativity doesn’t work. Many times you must come up with a creative idea (whether it is a slogan, new products, different system of completing a task, or whatever), but the anxiety and pressure of finding the “perfect” answer is overwhelming and can cripple your creative process.

Inspiration often strikes when you stop thinking about something. Take a break. Start a new task. Distract yourself. When you allow yourself to focus on something else and your attention shifts, the muse will whisper that elusive idea into your ear.

But what about those times when you get amazing ideas at inconvenient times when you are not near your computer or smartphone? What do you do if you are struck by brilliance in the middle of your shower?

Don’t Throw Out the Baby with the Bath Water

I don’t know about you, but I often get ideas for projects when I am in the shower. It’s a time when my mind is not focused on work. Without the pressure of having to come up with an idea, my mind is open and, many times, inspiration strikes.

The problem is – no matter how brilliant the idea is or how sure I am I will remember it in five or ten minutes – if I don’t somehow record the idea, it goes down the drain.

That’s why I was so excited when I came across Aqua Notes – it’s a waterproof notepad and pencil that stick to your shower wall. (There may be similar products out there, but this is the one that I discovered. And no, I do not get anything if you buy this; I just wanted to share my find!)

Now when I inspiration strikes in the shower, I don’t lose my idea – I can write it down. Once I get myself dressed and ready for the day, I can take my ideas with me. What works best for me is to tear off the page and enter the notes into my parking lot when I get to my computer.

What Do You Do When Inspiration Strikes?

The shower notepad works well for me when inspiration strikes in the shower. But I often get ideas when I am out for my run or working out at the gym. There have been times when I have stopped my workout at the gym to go to my locker to jot down an idea, but this isn’t the most convenient method.

When I’m running, there is no locker. So, for now,  I just repeat the idea over and over again and hope that I will remember it at the end of the run.

Do you have a better method for capturing ideas during a workout or at other times when inspiration strikes? If so, I’d love to hear about them.

Photo credit: © Yanc | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

Say what?

Not only did my opponent place the word on a double word title, she also used all seven of her letters, giving her an extra 35 bonus points.

How Is that a Word?

The game started with me losing – by a lot – which, of course, caused me to gripe. Is that even a word? It looks made up!

But, it is a word. It didn’t matter that Words with Friends granted “mucosae” word status; I had to check it out for myself.

It Sounds Gross

In case you didn’t know it, I excelled in English (and math). Science – especially things like anatomy and physiology – was not my strong suit. I even can’t watch TV shows where blood and guts are involved. That’s why I didn’t realize that “mucosae” was a word.

According to Scrabble Finder, “mucosae” is the plural of “mucosa,” which means:

Mucus-secreting membrane lining all body cavities or passages that communicates with the exterior

If you want to get to the guts of it (pun intended), the Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine defines it as

mucosa [mu-ko´sah] (L.)

mucous membrane. adj., adj muco´sal.

alveolar mucosa the mucosal lining of the dental alveoli; a thin, soft, fragile continuation of the mucous membrane of the cheek, lips, and floor of the mouth.

Regardless of which definition you use, to someone who gets queasy when CSI shows the inner-workings of the human body, it sounds nasty and just seems wrong.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t use the word if I ever get the chance.

There are times when you need a specific word and a synonym won’t do the trick. Just because a word has the same or a similar definition, it doesn’t mean it will always make sense. In some cases, the wrong word changes the entire meaning of an idea – and that can kill your marketing.

Step Away from the Thesaurus

I’ll admit it: I am addicted to my thesaurus (or at least to Thesaurus.com). However, I know that not all synonyms are created equal.

A thesaurus can give you options, allowing you to find a more descriptive word. But, if you think that every synonym is interchangeable, put the thesaurus down and slowly back away. Words are powerful, but the wrong word can become a dangerous weapon (that usually only hurts you).

What Kind of Message Are You Sending?

A few years ago, I was walking through the park and came across a sign for Camp Fire USA, a youth development organization. This particular banner was advertising the day camp program with the tagline: “Where Adventure Lurks.”

Lurks? Really?

Let’s look at the definition of lurk:

1. To lie or wait in concealment, as a person in ambush; remain in or around a place secretly or furtively.

2. To go furtively; slink; steal.

3. To exist unperceived or unsuspected.

Although I understand that the camp was trying to promote the unexpected fun and adventures kids would experience, the choice of words was poor. Often the word “lurk” is associated with evil (e.g. what evil lurks). Should anything be “lurking” around kids? Simple answer: no.

Timing Matters Too

This banner’s wording was made worse by its timing. When I saw the advertisement, the deaths of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois were still in the media and fresh in the minds of the community. Both of the local girls were abducted, raped, and killed (at separate times) by a man who ambushed them. Not to be rude, but you could say he was lurking.

The choice of “lurks” would have been a poor choice at any time, but coupled with the heightened worry of parents, it had the potential to be a marketing disaster. Even if it is a subconscious decision, parents may be put off by sending their children somewhere with anything lurking. (I don’t know if the tagline affected program enrollment, but thankfully the Camp Fire USA website now uses “Light the fire within.”)

Invoke Your Inner Critic

When selecting words for a marketing campaign, a blog post, your website, or even a letter, be sure to consider all of the possible connotations of your words. This is the time to release your inner smart ass, cynic, and critic.

Is there an easy way to interpret your words in another way? Be sure you don’t scare away, offend, or otherwise dissuade your potential clients with your word choice.

Do you think your words are perfect? Wait before you send them out into the world. Ask someone to review them – and make sure that person will give you honest feedback. If, for whatever reason, you don’t have someone to critique your text, at least take some time away from what you wrote and come back to it later. You may find something that you missed.

Sure, running to the thesaurus for a catchy word is easy, but losing potential customers is hard. Make sure you are selling the fun of your product or service and not creating a fear of it.

Happy marketing!

Photo credit: © Gina rothfels | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos