Hot off the press! Clear Ink’s first book, Saving and investing for life has just been launched. The 80-page independent book, sponsored by permanenttsb, combines clear writing with strong visual journalism to ensure readers understand complex information quickly and easily.

The Financial Regulator is now insisting on clear English for all mortgage arrears communications.
“An information booklet must be made available to borrowers providing details of a lenders MARP process. The booklet must be drafted in plain English and in a clear and consumer friendly manner.”
If you need your documentation rewritten to comply with the regulations, contact margaret@clearink.ie [...]

Five years ago, who would’ve thought that you’d have to change the way you market and write to accommodate search engine optimisation (SEO) tools such as Google. The words we use on websites, and the style we choose for headlines, are now key in getting to the top of the SEO leaderboard. This article offers [...]

This is an excellent American blog post on how businesses should approach social media. Social media tools such as Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube and LinkedIn are NOT for every business, or for everyone. If you decide social media is a strategy that might work for your organisation – but you don’t know how to start – [...]

American research has found that more people share links, articles and ideas on FaceBook and Twitter if the language is clear and to the the point: http://www.briansolis.com/2010/05/facebook-sharing-driven-by-simplicity/

Writing and speaking are tools for communicating a message. That’s it. Yet so many things – jargon, legalese, academic-speak, overly formal or informal language, poor grammar or punctuation – get in the way of good communication.
Clear Ink helps financial services, legal, media, health and technology firms, multinationals, government bodies and semi-states to sell their products [...]

Worth a read: American newspaper reporter and mommy blogger Kelby Carr gives her top tips for hacks who blog.

Clear Ink editorial client, InsolvencyJournal.ie, scooped Best Professional Services website last night. The site was recognised for its high quality presentation of relevant content and its smart use of effective and appropriate technology.