Using unique

Perhaps more than the average person, marketers are often tempted to use the word unique because we want to dazzle our readers and make them think that we're telling them something they have never heard before. This leads to misuse of a unique word that should only be used under special conditions.

Unique comes from the Latin word unicus, which means "alone in its kind." In other words, if something is to be called unique, that means that something had better be the only one of its kind in the whole universe.

Despite what you may want to believe most fervently, chances are the product or service you are marketing is not unique. Surely there are others out there like it, right? Your client cannot be the ONLY person in the world who thought to sell luggage. Or jewelry. Or shoes.

As my journalism professor once said, you should not use the word unique unless you have travelled the globe in order to prove that the thing you want to describe as unique is in fact the only one of its kind on this Earth. Trusting that this would be too much effort for most people to undertake, he felt confident he wouldn't be reading the word unique in our writing. He was right.

So, what to do? Try this. Any time you find yourself wanting to use the word unique, think of the conditions that made you want to use it. What about the thing makes it seem unique? List those things. Those are the things you should be writing about anyway - the qualities rather than one word that really tells us nothing.

Unique is a red flag word. It tells other people that you've run out of good things to say about something and now you're making a statement that 99 percent of the time cannot possibly be true.

Some other things to remember about unique. The word unique is an absolute, which means it cannot be more unique or most unique or rather unique or very unique. It's like the word pregnant. You either are pregnant or you are not. There is no in between and there are no degrees of being pregnant.

By the numbers

We use numbers a lot, so we should brush up on the do's and don't's of numbers in content.

Decimals are for math, not for content
Avoid using decimals in your content. They add unnessary bulk to your copy, and they introduce an unnecessary opportunity for error.

Example of incorrect usage:
Promote this program and earn between $8.00 and $12.00 per sale.
The decimals and zeroes are unnecessary. Plus if you put the decimal in the wrong place, which often happens when we're in a hurry, you could end up offering someone an $80 to $120 payout per sale instead of $8 to $12.

Example of correct usage:
Promote this program and earn between $8 and $12 per sale.
It's simple and to the point with less margin for error.

Do I have to spell it out for you?
When do you spell out a number vs. using figures? There's a very simple rule to remember here:
- Spell out one through nine and use figures for 10 and higher.

Example of correct usage:
I told that customer that if she bought 100 additional purses in November, we would give her two tickets to the Super Bowl.

You can run on, but you can't hide

Perhaps it's because we have a lot to say that we're eager to share. For whatever reason, I'm seeing a lot of run-on sentences in the content that I review and revise for clients. Let's take a moment to learn about run-on sentences and how to avoid or correct them.

A run-on sentence doesn't know when to quit. It is free of proper punctuation and often contains two or three sentences that by rights should stand alone.

Example of a run-on sentence:
The house in Cambridge has four bedrooms you can take a virtual tour on our site.
There are two sentences (independent clauses) here.

Correct usage:
The house in Cambridge has four bedrooms. You can take a virtual tour on our site.

How can you tell when to stop? When the subject of the sentence changes, it's usually a pretty good indication that you've started a new sentence. We go from talking about "the program" to "you." Each sentence is an independent clause with its own subject and verb.

Comma splicing
So, you've been caught red-handed. You're guilty of running on. Thinking fast on your feet, you decide to use a comma to fix it. Surely a comma between the two sentences will make things right. WRONG! Rarely does a comma fix a run-on sentence.

Example of comma splicing to fix a run-on sentence:
Houses in that neighborhood are not cheap, you need at least two incomes to live there!
This merely indicates that you knew you had a problem, but you weren't sure about how to fix it. A comma is really a substitute for the word "and," so all you've done here is add a word to your run-on.

Damn the semicolon! This calls for a period
You could use a semicolon to correct a run-on sentence, but let's face it - a semicolon is something only academics should be using. In business writing, it's better to be concise and coherent. That means making each independent thought (in this case a clause or sentence) have time to be digested on its own merits by the reader.

Think about your company slogan. You wouldn't dare have a slogan that reads:
Coke's the real deal; Drink It!
It's too formal and silly looking.

Remember, run-on sentences are like hyper children. They've gone a bit wrong and you need to give each child his or her own space. So, separate them with the strongest punctuation mark in your arsenal - the period.

If it sounds like a run-on and looks like a run-on, it probably is a run-on sentence
The following is NOT a run-on sentence, but you sure would think it is.

"Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious. "
- Simone from "Ferris Buellers' Day Off"

Sometimes sentences can be long, meandering things that seem to go on forever. That doesn't mean they are a run-on sentence. However, if a sentence is so long that you have trouble reading it, you should shorten it if at all possible. If the reader can't get the meaning out of each sentence you write, you have failed.

So, that's the lesson for today. Now, run on you crazy kids!