Copywriting & Editing | Research
Website Writing/Editing | Communications Workshops
Sarasota, Florida, USA | EMAIL: thorsdag(at)comcast dot net

Helping Business Professionals Send a Clear Message Since 1975

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Credentials and Background

Why Choose Me?

Why Choose Me?

Many copywriters and editors will tell you they can meet your goals just to win your business. If they do win it, they may have to scramble to deliver on their promises.

My approach is different. I try to present an honest and professional response to your request. If it succeeds, I don't scramble to figure out how to deliver. I calmly go about meeting that request. I have been conducting business effectively this way for more than 30 years, so I know it works.

I follow well-proven principles in helping my clients communicate. One of the first to identify and use these principles was the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle, who presented them in his RHETORIC around 350 B.C.

The secret to success in written communication is not really secret, but success does require knowledge, talent, and experience. It always involves three elements -- sender (writer or speaker), receiver (reader or listener), and message (what website producers now call "content"). Managing the relationship among these three elements is what a skilled writer or communicator does well.

This requires addressing such important questions as:

• At what level of education and knowledge will the communication occur?

• How much and what kind of detail does the listener or reader really need?

• What mix of words and graphics works most effectively?

• How do you avoid talking down to -- or over the heads of -- your audience?

• How do you make the message both brief and complete at the same time?

• How do you adjust the message for differences among print, video, or web?

• How do you test your message before committing it to mass distribution?

If you're looking for a professional, affordable way to communicate effectively in words on paper or in electronic media -- or help in teaching staff and management how to do this -- contact me. I can provide many benefits to you and your organization:

1.	I work efficiently and adapt to each client’s unique needs.
2.	I charge reasonable fees, and I tell you up front what the project will cost.
3.	I have enthusiastic references from dozens of satisfied clients, including Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Clarke Advertising, Computer Sciences Corporation, Deloitte Consulting, The Grove Consultants International, InterSyte, Mercer Management Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many small companies, nonprofit groups, and individual professionals. My students will also provide enthusiastic and honest feedback on the results of my business communications teaching (see this link for evaluations by students).
4.	I handle business-to-business, consumer, and technical communications, in print or on the Internet.
5.	I'm a stickler for delivering quality and value, on time and on budget.
6.	I emphasize simplicity, clarity, originality, and brevity.
7.	In my work as a faculty member at the University of South Florida, I am constantly exchanging new ideas with excellent young talent.