I follow the E-Media Tidbits blog at PoynterOnline. Their posts are always positive and point to the future. Today it came with a bonus, a big chunch of irony. In How Topic Pages Can Give Readers a Bird's-Eye View of the News Maurreen Skowran presents the case for Topic pages to both engage readers and extend the life of news coverage. It came with examples, links, resources to create them and a proper and professional reference to the source, The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash.

The Irony?

In a later paragraph, the organazion was referred to as, "The paper". Ouch! Here's an organization trying avoid the traditional print news organization label only to be placed squarely in a "paper" box. Let's cut Maurreen some slack here. I've caught myself asked folks to "Dial" my number.

The Problem

Sometimes it's harmless, but more and more I find these "word slips" prevent us from getting outsite the box, especially the ones crafted in our own mind. How about you? Which of these traps have you found yourself in?

• Publishing printed marketing materials without including your web URL.
• Including an invitation to "Visit us on our website at:" when simply including the URL would do.
• Publishing your phone number with cute little words when the letters never line up on a cell phone.

What connotation do you attribute to the words Horseless Carrage, Muscle Car, SUV or Hybrid? More importantly, how small a box did you create for each one? I'm willing to bet organizations like Twitter and Wikipedia were conceived without the slightest thought to how they would look in print.

The Solution

In my comment on the Poynter.com post, I suggested print journalists ask the question, "How would we publish, if we had no paper?" Here are some questions to ponder if you, like the print media industry are looking for a new, more successful business model:  

• If you replaced the question "How do I use technology" with "Why should I use technology" would you buy less and leverage more of what you already own?
• If you changed the label on your web toolbox from "Website" to "Web Presence", would you need a bigger box? If you opened the lid, what would be inside?
• If you only had time to focus on one technology that would help you become the Master of Your Digital Domain, which would you choose?

What do you think? Use the comments link to share your opinion.