CT Governor signs “Observation Status” into Law

Guest Blog by Frances Trelease

Good news for seniors requiring hospital stays: Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy signed into law an “observation status” bill, HB 5535, that requires hospitals to tell patients whether their stay is classified as “observation status” or as traditional inpatient.

This distinction is important.  The legislation, which takes effect October 1, 2014 and is supported by AARP-CT, empowers patients by making them aware of those hospital health care costs that will be passed on to them, and those that will be covered by Medicare. Patients admitted under “observation status” face lower Medicare reimbursements, and therefore higher out-of-pocket costs.  Any senior using traditional fee-for-service Medicare is affected by this classification.   

Deb Migneault, senior policy analyst for Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging, says that under Medicare benefit rules, patients on observation status are considered “outpatient” and do not have access to the same Medicare benefits as someone considered “inpatient.”

And without proper notification, many patients are unpleasantly surprised by high out-of-pocket fees that they thought would be covered.  Additionally, patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation, will not have their care covered if they have not met a 3-day inpatient hospital stay requirement. This patient, too, gets stuck with the bill for that nursing care.

The Medicare “observation status” classification was created under the George W. Bush administration, as a way to curb rising health care costs by auditing hospitals for possible overpayments or improper admissions; hospitals found in violation are required to return all Medicare payments received.

But confusion has resulted, because in many hospitals, medical services provided under either status — inpatient or observation — are virtually identical.  Examples of identical, but non-covered services may include: doctor visits, testing, and routine prescriptions for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

According to Toby Edelman of the Center for Medicare Advocacy ^[3], hospitals receive lower reimbursements for observation status patients. “But at least hospitals know they’ll get something,” he said.

He cites federal data showing a dramatic rise in Medicare patients classified as observation patients — from 920,000 in 2006 to 1.4 million nationally in 2011.  Kaiser Health News also reports a 69 percent increase in five years.

Seeing the need for reform, the Connecticut AARP testified in support of the bill, along with Medicare advocates and senior advocacy groups.

AARP-CT now urges families to ask their doctors about admission status, although some physicians may also be unaware.   “Get your doctor to go to bat for you,” said Edelman.

Additional resources: The Center for Medicare Advocacy has a self-help packet ^[4] on its website that explains the observation-status issue in detail.

Frances Trelease is a professional business writer, helping small and mid-size businesses communicate key messages to their audiences. www.treleasecommunications.net ^[5].

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Article printed from AARP States: http://states.aarp.org

URL to article: http://states.aarp.org/ct-gov-signs-observation-status-law-sc-ct-wp-health/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://states.aarp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/JenMillea-woman-in-hospital-Squaredpixels-4999999.jpg

[2] Are You in the Hospital or Not?: http://blog.aarp.org/2014/01/27/are-you-in-the-hospital-or-not/

[3] Center for Medicare Advocacy: http://www.medicareadvocacy.org

[4] self-help packet: http://states.aarp.orgbit.ly/KTa5LJ

[5] http://www.treleasecommunications.net: http://www.treleasecommunications.net/

 

 

Career Re-imagined: My Story

As recently as last year, an AARP study found that “nearly 2 in every 3 workers had either seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace.” It’s a sobering statistic; but it doesn’t have to represent everyone’s story.

April is National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month, so what better time to consider re-imagining your life and your career by starting your own business?  More Americans 50 and older are realizing they have more options than to “hope” they don’t get downsized as their years at a company accrue. We can carve our own paths. The time for career reinvention has come.  And while it’s not always easy, the rewards far outweigh the risks. I’m on such a path now.

I recently hit the 50-year milestone. By the time I got here, I had lived a series of career “lives” – first, a cub reporter right out of college, roaming the streets of a small town with pad and pen in hand; later, an editorial writer for a corporate magazine; following that, an account executive for a PR agency.

Somewhere in my 30s, with a master’s degree under my belt, I landed a job teaching a night class for the University of Bridgeport. That first teaching gig began what is now 15 years and counting as a college instructor, teaching courses in business, ethics and writing. But my story doesn’t end there. There was still an entrepreneurial itch waiting to be scratched.

That opportunity came to me courtesy of my students. My years of teaching adults had exposed me to wonderful stories of their search for something more in their mid-life years. They had “put in their time” working at a job to pay the bills, or raising their kids; now it was their time to explore “What’s Next?” That’s why so many of them were signing up to take classes.

But even back in school, many lacked a clear focus. How could they explore a new career without risk? Without years of time and money? An idea began to hatch. Structured internships for adults could open the door to new career choices, before – or instead of – making long term commitments. And for business owners, adult interns could supply an affordable wealth of maturity, dedication and talent.

I created Boomer Den, LLC with both parties in mind. Boomer Den matches motivated adults to businesses that will mentor them in a new field, in exchange for receiving affordable help. I’ve brought parties together in areas such as radio broadcast, interior design, and social media. The possibilities are endless.

While Boomer Den has given me a chance to scratch that entrepreneurial itch, it also allows me to guide boomer adults toward exciting new career choices, and a renewed sense of hope. To me, there’s no greater reward.

Additional Resources

To learn more about internship opportunities through Boomer Den, visit www.boomerden.com

 

 

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

I lost a student and friend yesterday. His name was Mark, and he died at the age of 47, just six months after receiving an untimely diagnosis of stage 4 stomach cancer.

I met Mark a few years back at the University of Bridgeport, where he enrolled in two of my business courses. He was a nice man, a respectful and quiet man. We had a cordial teacher/student rapport, but nothing out of the ordinary. From time to time he would drop me an e-mail saying hello, and tell me of his current classes, his job, his family life.

In the 15+ years I’ve been a college lecturer, not many students have taken the time to reconnect once their final grades have been recorded and filed. That’s just the way it is; an unspoken, mutual understanding that each of us will go on our own way. But Mark was among that handful who were different. He viewed me as a friend.

It had been months since I had heard from him, so I smiled when a text appeared on my phone one morning in July.

“How are you, Professor Trelease? It’s Mark.”

I texted back, “How have you been? So nice to hear from you!”

“Not so good lately. Was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer, and it’s a struggle. But I’ll beat this.”

We corresponded more regularly after that, meeting for coffee one summer evening at the U.B. library cafe. He greeted me with a hug and a bald head — the side effect of rounds of chemotherapy. We spoke about his two children in college, his wife of 25 years, his job, and his intention to volunteer to help other cancer patients once he recovered. While privately reflecting on the survival rates of stage 4 cancer patients, I admired his resolve.

The last contact came about a month ago. Mark told me the tumor had continued to grow, so he was switching from chemotherapy to radiation treatment. A very religious man, he remained close to his faith, and vowed to beat this curse.

It was with sadness, yet little surprise, that I learned of his passing yesterday from a Facebook post — a sign of the social media age, I suppose, to learn of such a human loss in such an impersonal way. I read the dozens of posts that followed the announcement, and viewed scores of photos of Mark’s smiling face — with friends, with his wife, peering proudly out from under a graduation cap during his college commencement. And then I sat to reflect… quietly.

Mark’s passing hits me at a vulnerable time. December has come to represent loss for a number of years now. For the larger community, this season will always open scars from the Sandy Hook school tragedy in nearby Newtown. For me, personally, I endured the loss of both parents in the month of December — one in 2000 and the other in 2008.

But today I mourn for Mark, his family and friends. And I mourn for the jolting fragility of life. As I said, I didn’t know him well. But he was a good, kind soul. I knew that well. And when he became ill, he had reached out to me, asking me to keep him in my prayers. I was honored by his request.

Goodbye from “Professor Trelease,” Mark. It’s my regret now that those prayers couldn’t keep you here among your loved ones, for just a little while longer. R.I.P., my friend.

Adult Internships — The Road Less Traveled

As more professional adults seek to reinvent themselves in the workforce, they find out pretty quickly that times have changed. The paper resume, followed by a solid interview and hand shake, don’t carry the same weight they used to.

But that’s okay, because for the baby boomer generation in particular, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. For some, the answer lies in returning to school for retraining and recertification in a new field. For others, it means scouring online job boards and playing the numbers game – if enough queries are sent out, something’s bound to come back.

Granted, the first option can be time-consuming and costly. And the second… well, many describe the section option as sending resumes into a “black hole.”

But there’s a third way – one that many adults in mid-life and beyond are discovering can really take them somewhere. That option is to become an adult intern. Yes, we think of interns as newly minted college grads, discovering the world of work for the first time under the watchful eye of an older employer. But that’s only one kind.

Those of us born before the late 1960s and early 1970s are quickly growing in number and, increasingly, life circumstances dictate the need for change. Mothers with grown children are attempting to reenter the work force in droves. Same for husbands or wives whose spouses have been laid off or downsized. In both scenarios, they face a gap in their resumes.

Similarly, many boomers have put in their 25 or 30 years in one field, and cherish the chance to try something new, an encore career, if you will. But what employer will give them a chance without prior on-the-job experience?

As exhibited by recent news segments on ABC News and NBC Today (see http://www.boomerden.com for video clips) adult internships are on the rise. They go by many names – some call them apprenticeships. Other invoke terms like job shadowing or finding a mentor. They all boil down to something similar – providing an avenue for experienced, educated adults ages 45 or older to “test drive” a new field in a safe, low risk setting. For business owners, it’s a valuable chance to get out a boomer’s work ethic and aptitude. Job offers often follow these temporary stints.

Yes, there are drawbacks, too. Pay is usually minimal or non-existent. And along with the new skills training come tasks that may be less than glamorous. These are, after all, a chance to immerse oneself in a new field – often from the ground up.

If you’re interested in giving one a go, here are some ways to get started:
1. Search for adult internships online, in the field you’d like to pursue. Sites such as http://www.flexjobs.com or http://www.indeed.com might be good starting points.
2. Reach out directly to companies you’re interested in. Ask them if they have an adult internship program. If they don’t, inquiring about having them create one.
3. Find a qualified intermediary service that can do the legwork for you. Boomer Den prequalifies both business owners and interns, ensuring matches that are reliable and provide value to both parties. There is no cost to the intern candidate, and only a minimal fee to the business.

An estimated 23 Americans are currently unemployed or unemployed. We can do better than that. Explore an adult internship as a road back to a meaningful career.

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Boomer Den LLC: Where adults explore new career passions; where employers gain help and know-how at a price they can afford. http://www.boomerden.com. Join our subscriber list today!

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4 Grammar Mistakes You Have to Stop Making Online

Good stuff. I wish I had said this myself!

By Amber Ludeman | Business 2 Community

Whether it’s a tweet, a paid search ad or content on your blog, your online content is representative of your brand. That means that yes, it is still imperative that you use correct grammar and spelling. With the 24-hour news cycle, and the chance for your mistake to go viral, it is important that you double-check your content. You don’t have to be a grammar stickler regarding punctuation, as this is becoming more fluid with character limits, but spelling is still–well, not fluid. Here are 4 tips you need to commit to memory to avoid your brand being embarrassed online.

1. Confusing your homophones
Common examples: they’re, their, there / two, too, to / whose, who’s

Homophones are words that sound the same (homo = same, phone = sound). This is just a simple thing to fix because all of these words sound the same, but mean something different. Learn what they mean and in what context they’re used.
They’re = they are (They’re finally here!)
Their = plural possession (Their animals are unruly.)
There = location/place (Your hat was lying right there last time I saw it.)
Whose = possession (Whose papers jammed the printer?)
Who’s = who is (Who’s responsible for bringing the doughnuts to the meeting?)
Maybe we’ll graduate to “how to use whom” next time.

2. Misspellings
Common examples: achieve, accommodate, conscious, effect/affect, a lot
Technically misspelling a word falls under a spelling mistake and not a grammar mistake, but it needs to be addressed. Misspellings in your marketing + online communications simply look sloppy or careless. When in doubt, look it up.

“A lot” is two (not to or too) words. An “alot” is a fictitious creature created by fellow grammarian Hyperbole + a Half.

3. Subject/verb agreement
This can be difficult at times and is not always easy to pick out when incorrect (frankly because so many people do it incorrectly). The main thing to remember here is to figure out whether your subject is singular or plural. This will help you figure out whether your verb needs to be singular or plural. When people aren’t sure whether or not the subject is plural or singular, they make mistakes.

A few common subject/verb agreement mistakes explained:
When a person (or his friend) isn’t sure about a subject, he or she might mess it up.
Since it’s an “or,” you accept that the subject is singular and thus use the singular verb “isn’t” instead of “aren’t.” Note: Do you hate using “he or she”? Then simply make your verb plural so you may use “they” instead.
When a person (and his friend) are ready for the concert, they’ll call.
Since it’s an “and,” you accept that the person and his friend are one plural subject and thus use the plural verb “are.”

4. Semi-colon + comma confusion

Remember that time your teacher told you to put a comma in the sentence where there is a “natural pause”? Well, it seems that many people on social networks are naturally pausing a lot (not alot). I won’t get into every comma rule ever created, but let’s stick with the basics. Use a comma with a conjunction only if the phrase coming after the conjunction (or, but) can stand alone. If you want to take the conjunction out, simply use a semi-colon.
Examples:
John and his father went to see the Beatles in March 1970, but little did they know that the band would break up just a month later.
John and his father went to see the Beatles in March 1970; little did they know that the band would break up just a month later.
John and his father went to see the Beatles but left early.

The new Facebook Timeline

I have a question for all you creative types out there — those of you who post photos and text on Facebook to showcase your artwork, photography, crafts, jewelry or written musings. How does the new Timeline format compare with the old? If you could choose to stay with either layout, which would it be? Some say that learning the new Timeline is confusing. There certainly is a learning curve involved. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts! If you’re trying to sell your works, does Facebook Timeline make it harder or easier to do so?

A Philosophy We Could All Live By

You Are Just Fine the Way You Are
By Harrison Barnes, CEO, Hound, Inc.

I was sitting in a sales seminar several months ago and a well known sales trainer got up and started speaking to the audience. He is considered by many to be one of the best salespeople in America, and I was hanging on his every word. The man was describing how he went into meetings in corporations to sell things, and how he always was able to close. His entire strategy was based on what he called “finding the pain.� “You need to find the pain! You need to find the pain!� he kept shouting as he paced back and forth on the stage. By “finding the pain� what he meant was taking what someone thought was okay with their corporation and making it seem awful–as if the company had something horribly wrong with it, which could lead to its imminent collapse. Basically, this entire strategy is based on scaring corporations and other buyers about whatever they are doing at the moment, and convincing them that if they do not change soon disaster will strike.

For example, if this man were trying to convince someone to list a building for sale he might (over the course of a 45-minute presentation) show the owner of the building various flip charts and other information about:

Declining commercial real estate values in the area;
More and more people working at home, not in offices;
Rising commercial vacancy rates;
The fact that the geographic area where the real estate is located is losing population;
The increasing difficulty for people to get financing;
The fact that commercial real estate has consistently underperformed at the stock market.
These are just hypothetical examples, but it should give you an idea of how people can be put in panic by a salesman. None of this should come as a surprise to you, though. Everywhere around us there are people, businesses and others trying to put us in pain so that we buy what they are selling. This is how the sales world often works.

One of the biggest mistakes that people, corporations and others can make is consistently believing they are not doing enough, which comes as a response to those around them who put them in pain. In fact, our entire economic system is based on businesses and people around us putting us in pain:

The face lotion company implies you look too old and need a face cream to look younger.
The vacuum cleaner salesman makes you think your carpets are too dirty due to the shortcomings of your existing vacuum.
The car salesperson makes you feel that you are not complete unless you get more options for your car.
Most of us continually feel there is a “hole” of sorts, and we simply are not confident that we are good enough, or capable enough. This is the game the world plays with us every second of every day. Because of this hole within ourselves, we allow others to help us when we do not need help, fail to consistently feel content with our lives and accomplishments, and neglect to feel satisfied with who we are. We always feel a sense of lack.

If you have some sort of weakness and believe that you are not okay, an entire world is there to solicit you (for a charge), to help fulfill your sense of lack. In fact, I would argue that our entire economy revolves around people preying on our inherent sense of inadequacy. Personally, I cannot pick up the paper, pick up my phone, turn on the television, read my email, or drive down the street without being solicited and reminded about what I lack:

Advertisements for books in the Wall Street Journalremind me about things I do not know each day.
Roadside gyms remind me that I need to start lifting weights again and they beckon me with specials.
Schools advertised on television remind me about all of the things I could learn.
Car ads on television and in magazines remind me that I probably should have a more fuel-efficient car.
Salespeople call me daily to try and sell me various products or solutions for one business issue or another.
People call me on the phone wanting to be my partner in business all the time.
People come by my house to fix things that need repair, and then they try to upsellme on something bigger, or better (whatever it is) when I am in the middle of my work.
I am solicited hourly for one self improvement course or another by email.
A good portion of the searches I do on the Internet return sponsored results that tell me I need to buy something.
I am replacing my lawn at the moment and the person doing the work has tried to sell me a lot of things so far. Most recently he tried to tell me I should invest in an outdoor fire pit/barbeque, and he offered to build one for me–for a mere $16,000. He has been leaving catalogues and pictures of outdoor fire pits and barbecues all over the house for the past several days, and every time I look at those glossy photos I admittedly feel like buying. But it’s $16,000.

Having a new lawn is nice, but it would really be great if you also had an outdoor barbeque pit, he tells me.

I am extremely motivated in business and daily I receive tons of emails from various people, promising to teach me one skill or another. For a guy like me, these emails are very enticing. I want to respond and sign up for every single one of them. I do not, of course (if I did I would go broke), but I would like to.

All the time I encounter people that want to be my partner in business, and their pitch typically is based on trying to identify the things they feel I may lack. For example, if they believe I am not detail oriented enough they will tell me that they can bring detail skills to the equation, and that I will do better if I enhance marketing side of my operation. If the person believes I am not a good enough promoter, he tells me he can bring promotion skills to the equation. People around me are constantly trying to identify my weaknesses so they can capitalize on them for their own self interest. People are also doing the same with you.

We are all constantly solicited by various advertisers, who convince us that we are simply not enough. I remember when I was in college I refused to smoke pot with my fraternity brothers because I did not think doing so would serve me well. I was so motivated that I did not want to slow down the littlest bit. Our fraternity house was essentially split up into two groups of kids: there were those who smoked pot a lot, and then there were the others, who did not really mess with the stuff. One day I was sitting in a room with a bunch of the guys who liked to smoke pot. Suddenly somebody pulled out a giant bag of grass, and a group of about 10 guys got ready to smoke. I got up to leave.

“We’lll be better friends with you if you get high with us,” one of the guys said as I was walked out of the room.

I have always remembered this instance. These guys were trying to rope me in, and sell me on the fact that I was not good enough friends with them at the time. They basically were promising that I could be better friends with them if I used drugs with them. They identified a sense of lack within me and tried to exploit it. But I didn’t bite.

In virtually every city in America there are numerous schools. The idea is that we do not know enough and the schools can teach us what we need to know. There are public schools. There are continuing education schools. There are for-profit schools. There are local community college classes about this or that. No matter where you turn, there are people eager to teach you what you do not know. I cannot turn on the television these days without seeing tons of ads for all these various schools. Now there are online schools.

In my grandmother’s last years of life I used to visit her regularly at the nursing home, with my father. In the home they had classes virtually every day of the week about various topics. Incredibly, people who barely had use of their minds and bodies were being wheeled into classes in diapers in wheel chairs where they would sit straining to hear what they would be taught that day. I went to one of the classes once. It was surreal watching classes filled with people at death’s door sitting around learning in a complete stupor. We are continually filling ourselves and others with one form of knowledge or another, right up until death.

Think about what you see when you go to most bookstores. A good portion of the books inside of bookstores are about how to do this or that, be this or that, or become this or that. In fact, most books are a form of self help. When you get to the fiction books, there are myriads of stories that allow us to live exciting, romantic and other sorts of lives in a vicarious way through the lives of others.

I have been doing a lot of studying of the Internet lately and have managed to get myself on numerous spam lists for various Internet training products, seminars and more. Unlike most people, I actually do not mind receiving more forms of spam because I am fascinated by the amount of things I do not know how to do. Every hour I am now assaulted by emails for e-books, courses and all sorts of things that promise to give my companies a #1 ranking on Google.

I remember when I started a recruiting firm, BCG Attorney Search, back in 2000. Because my greatest interest at that time was in recruiting, I decided from the outset that I needed to do everything I could in order to insure I had others address the financial aspects of the business. In my opinion, healthy finances are the most important aspects of any business.

My first employee was a bookkeeper and I ensured that she was given as much support as she could be given from an accountant I had been using for a while. I called the accountant and told him I wanted to ensure that my bookkeeper would do everything according to his satisfaction so it would be easier for him to file taxes when the time came. I also explained that this was not something I wanted to spend a lot of time worrying about. I expected him to provide very good oversight, so I could concentrate my efforts on recruiting.

“Don’t worry, we’re happy to offer any help we can.”

Throughout the day the bookkeeper would call the receptionist of the accounting firm for sometimes an hour or more. Their conversations were always initially about accounting; however, only for the first 1 or 2 minutes of each conversation. Since my bookkeeper had never used a modern accounting program called QuickBooks, she had many very simple questions about which button did this and which button did that on the computer and so forth. After a few phone calls, the conversations turned to things like the results the receptionist was getting from classifieds she was posting on Match.com, the dates she had, favorite recipes and more. I knew this because I was sitting in the same room as the bookkeeper. I should have said something about this but I did not. I figured it was good for the accounting firm and the bookkeeper to be on good terms, and I convinced myself that their exchanging information was a positive thing.

A few months into my bookkeeper’s time with us she brought me a check for something like $5,800 to sign made out to the accounting firm. The bill was itemized and contained over $5,000 in charges for speaking with the receptionist billed out at $125/hour. It was a total scam, of course. The receptionist I am sure did not even make one-tenth of that amount, plus in reality there probably had not been more than a couple of hours spent on actual accounting-related discussions.

I fired the accountant.

The accountant had tried to take advantage of me in response to my having exposed a weakness. And when you show a weakness, people may offer “help,” but they will often go too far in a direction that serves their own interests best. The world exists and functions in many respects on people preying on others’ weaknesses.

It is difficult to admit this and to be so direct about it; however, for several years I believed that there were parts of me that were simply not enough. The mistakes I have made as a result of this belief are some of the worst mistakes I have ever made, and have led to my being taken advantage of many times. One of the biggest mistakes that most of us make is that we think that we are not good enough. By this, I mean that we do not have the skills to accomplish things on our own.

The most important thing you can do for yourself is overcome the sense of lack, which we all experience. You should believe in yourself: you may be able to accomplish all those things about which others would have you believe differently. You do not necessarily need others’ strengths and various offerings in order to complete yourself. You are most likely just fine the way you are. The return expected by others who are “helping” you often far outweighs the value of their contributions. Ultimately you may find this disparity is a great deal larger than the very lack you saw in yourself to begin with.

Simplicity. The Goal Everytime.

Think for a moment about the ways in which you interact with your customers, your co-workers, your vendors, and stockholders – via the written and spoken word. If the very substance of your messages – the actual thoughts, ideas and meanings you’re sending – isn’t clear and free of clutter, all the wireless Internet access and latest technical gadgetry in the world won’t help. Your words might still lose their impact, or worse, be misunderstood.

Having command of our tremendous English language is a great tool. But using every vocabulary word you know in every sentence… is not.

In an amusing scene from the first installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean,” a governess kidnapped aboard a pirate ship begs her captor, Captain Barbosa, to release her. The ruthless pirate deftly replies, “I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request…That means no.”

Albeit without pirates, here’s another example of simplifying:

Before: The maintenance of simplicity and the avoidance of circumlocution will enable your readers to achieve improved comprehension.

After: If you write in a straightforward, direct manner, your readers will understand you.

As William Zinsser explains in his classic 1980 book, On Writing Well: “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon…”

Clear, effective copy is that short piece of written craftsmanship that propels, promotes and defines.* We’re talking about crystal clear messages.

Says Zinsser, “Perhaps a sentence is so excessively cluttered that the reader, hacking his way through the verbiage, simply doesn’t know what it means… Very few sentences come out right the first time, or the third. Keep thinking and rewriting until you say what you want to say.”

Today’s businesses – from the smallest start-up to the largest conglomerate – more than ever must use direct and right-to-the-point writing to reach their targeted audiences for a range of purposes:

► Sales and Consumer Relations

► Promotional Campaigns

► Investor Relations

► Web Site Content

► Motivational Speeches

► Multimedia Presentations

► Oral and Written Proposals

► Scriptwriting and Broadcast

► Public Service Announcements

An experienced copywriter can work closely with you or your management team to bring fresh ideas and a straightforward, unbiased perspective to your writing projects.

Zinsser says it best: “Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident.”

Best Undiscovered Band in Connecticut

Every once in awhile, you run across a real find – a raw talent that hasn’t yet gone “big time.” The Southbury-based rock and roll band, Over The Edge (OTE), is one such find. This 5-piece ensemble, featuring the husband and wife team of Tom and Robyn Moosey, rocked the house last weekend at Barcelona Restaurant in Fairfield.

It’s not that they’re the only local band to perform in area clubs; it’s that their talent blows the doors off. For more than four hours on Sunday, they performed classic rock and roll tunes from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s – the kind we know the words to and can’t help but sing to. It was an eclectic mix that included the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Melissa Etheridge, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi and others.

For my generation, coming of age in the late 70s and 80s, their selection is unsurpassed. This is our time, and this is our music.

At Barcelona, I watched guests sway to the music, sing, clap and cheer. When Robyn Moosey – a former Broadway singer – let loose with the vocals, we were stopped in our tracks. And the licks from Tom Moosey’s electric guitar brought me back to Toad’s Place in New Haven, rocking to the best opening bands… only this time, minus the sticky floors. To non-believers, I say check them out on Facebook and YouTube!

Looking back, I guess we were fortunate that OTE hasn’t been “discovered” yet. If they had, we never would have enjoyed the good seats up close. Whenever this rock band performs in our area, we’ll be there.

Sales Letters in 2011. Do they Matter?

Wondering if it makes sense to send out a sales letter in 2011? You’re not alone if you hesitate. Competition for customers these days remains fierce, and you may well ask yourself if you’ll see a return on the time invested.
Without a doubt… yes, it’s still worth it. In fact, for today’s small to mid-sized business (1 to 75 people) a strong sales letter nudges you in front of those who just don’t bother. It’s a written statement of goodwill. And it creates a bridge to your customer’s front door, when you don’t have the physical resources to visit in person. Sales letters serve as a reminder of your qualifications, your talents, and your vision. And they build top-of-mind awareness with the clients you most value.
If you seek technical pointers on how to write powerful sales copy, information is abundant. Just Google “sales writing” and you’ll come up with millions of hits — some better than others, and each with a “guaranteed” way to write sparkling copy.
So I won’t use this space to talk about how. Instead, I’ll expand upon why. We’re immersed in tweets, blogs, mobile updates, e-mails and nano-second communication; so why are sales letter still relevant? Perhaps ironically, the answer stands the test of time.
Technology can provide speed. But it can’t provide what we humans have always had — the tools of power and persuasion that drive sales. It can’t know your client’s wants and needs, or how to engage emotions through word craft. A speedy email just can’t achieve the same impact.
A strong sales letter differs from e-mails and tweets because it’s more personal, eye-catching and engaging. In short? The better your sales letter, the greater your opportunities.