by Jim Sweeney | Nov 12, 2025 | Blog
This is an Important Post. You know that because it includes Unnecessary Capital Letters.
This is the curse of random capitalization, the misuse of capital letters to make things appear more important and official looking. It’s one of the most common problems with business writing.
Some things are meant to be random, such as acts of kindness and winning lottery numbers. But capitalization should never be random. It’s distracting, pretentious and wrong.
Grammar has strict rules about when and what to capitalize, but these rules are frequently ignored in bad business writing. The result is text that looks like the Declaration of Independence (“. . . that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”) or a Winnie-the-Pooh book (“‘If I know anything about anything, that hole means Rabbit,’ he said, ‘and Rabbit means Company,’ he said, ‘and Company means Food and Listening-to-Me-Humming and such like’.”)
Neither style is a good fit for the quarterly report.
Why do people do it? Because they think capital letters equal Importance. Others, in doubt and unsure of the rules, default to capitalization. They would be correct more often if they defaulted to lowercase.
So, a quick recap of the basics of when and what to capitalize (with the usual caveats that there are exceptions to every rule and that I’m not addressing every situation, just the ones that arise most frequently in business writing.):
- Proper nouns — In general, capitalize the proper names of people, places and things.
Incorrect: Michael Scott is an Executive with Dunder Mifflin in Scranton. He is a Regional Manager.
Correct: Michael Scott is an executive with Dunder Mifflin in Scranton. He is a regional manager.
Michael Scott, Scranton and Dunder Mifflin are always capitalized because they are proper names of a person, place and thing, respectively. The words “executive” and “regional manager” are lowercase because they are improper or common nouns, which describe general things.
Incorrect: The new Campaign should result in greater Market Share.
Correct: The new campaign should result in greater market share.
Campaign and market share are common nouns and don’t require capitalization.
Also, capitalize adjectives derived from proper nouns, such as “a Shakespearean tragedy” and “a Freudian slip.”
- Titles — Capitalize titles when they come before a name, but not after: Regional Manager Michael Scott, not Michael Scott, Regional Manager. And occupations are not titles, so don’t capitalize them. Don’t write, I was greeted by Receptionist Pam Beesly; write, I was greeted by receptionist Pam Beesly.
Don’t capitalize a title if it’s not used with the titleholder’s name, such as chairman, president or professor. Most executive bios are full of bad examples: From 2008 to 2011, Michael Scott was Regional Manager of the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin.
Tricky exception I — Don’t capitalize a title before a name if there is a comma in between, e.g. December’s salesman of the month, Dwight Schrute, refuses to surrender his reserved parking space to this month’s winner.
Tricky exception II — Capitalize titles that replace someone’s first name: General Grant, Chairman Mao.
- Departments etc. — It’s OK to capitalize when referring to a specific department or official entity, e.g. Human Resources has ordered Sales to stop instigating water gun fights with other departments. The capital letters signify that the writer is referring to specific departments. Don’t capitalize sales when referring to it in a general sense, e.g. If sales rebound this year we can afford new Super Soakers.
- Quotations — Capitalize the first word of a quotation if it begins a complete sentence, but not if the quoted words are only part of a sentence.
Correct: Vice President Hamilton said, “One more Super Soaker attack and I will bring the hammer down on Sales.”
Also correct: Vice President Hamilton said one more Super Soaker attack and he will “bring the hammer down” on Sales.
Keep in mind that it’s perfectly fine to write a sentence that has a single capital letter at its beginning and nowhere else in the sentence. There’s no prize for additional capital letters and a message does not gain in importance proportionate to the number of capitalized words.
by Chris Nerney | Dec 8, 2021 | Blog
Smart healthcare companies invest in creating a quality digital presence, primary through their websites. I’ve launched my share of sites over the years and can tell you that a lot of planning, debate, creativity, and effort go into every facet of a company’s website, whether it’s brand new or overdue for a revamp.
Decisions must be made about everything that appears on a website – sections, design, images, and content. Writing content for a website is one of the most challenging jobs in content creation because you are under immense pressure to grab visitors immediately or risk losing them forever. A Chartbeat analysis of user behavior across 2 billion website visits showed that 55% of visitors stayed on a page for less than 15 seconds.
That’s why every word should contribute to telling a company’s story and positioning that company as unique in its market. I know from personal experience that creating website copy is a painstaking process of writing, rewriting, rewriting, hating your life, and rewriting. You can’t just dash off website copy! But the hard work invariably pays off for companies when their dazzling new website is launched.
While many startups are happy just to get their sites live – and it is an accomplishment – others have content plans that extend beyond the launch, such as a blog page. Which is shrewd because a steady stream of original content can demonstrate a company’s “thought leadership,” the ability of its executives to understand the business-critical issues and pain points facing its customer base. Further, blogs provide an opportunity for startups to establish a human connection (podcasts also are excellent for this) with potential customers, partners and investors.
Unfortunately, many startup blogs begin with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and then succumb to the harsh realities of continual content generation. Maybe the team member who championed the blog and did the bulk of the writing got another job. Maybe the CEO or CMO are too busy to contribute the monthly posts they promised. Stuff happens.
The problem is that a blog page containing only three or four posts, of which the most recent was from two years ago, doesn’t reflect well on your company. It looks like you don’t follow through or you ran out of ideas. Worse, you’re losing a chance to showcase the thought leadership that can separate you from your competitors in the minds of potential customers. Remember, many visitors to your site are actively searching for a solution. Your thought leadership content, in conjunction with the marketing content you perfected prior to the website launch, can be the differentiator that wins business for your company.
A blog page (or a section for videos or podcasts) won’t help your business at all, however, if it’s gathering cobwebs. I would argue that no thought leadership content is better than outdated content or a threadbare page.
Indeed, many healthcare startups make a conscious decision not to create a steady stream of content for their site, opting instead to focus their full efforts on the products and services they offer. That’s a valid decision if they truly lack the internal resources or budget to sustain a quality content creation program. And I suspect most visitors to a healthcare startup’s website probably don’t judge the company based on its lack of a blog. Conversely, a thinly populated and outdated blog/video/podcast section may leave a bad impression to website visitors, who likely won’t return.
Healthcare startups don’t have to publish fresh content every day or even every week to have a successful content strategy. Even a blog post a month can help you deliver your message and raise your profile if the content offers something of value for visitors. It can’t just be generic blather that checks off SEO boxes and gives you something to share on social media. Your content should position your company as a unique voice addressing serious, specific business challenges with effective solutions.
If your company lacks the bandwidth or skill set internally to produce content on a regular basis, freelancers can fill the gap, though the quality of content producers out there can vary wildly. That’s why working with an agency such as Amendola Communications is a sensible option. A marketing/communications agency specializing in healthcare can match the right writer to the right client, increasing the odds that the client’s content strategy pays off.
Website content isn’t easy and it isn’t free. But it can be incredibly valuable if it helps raise a company’s profile, which can attract customers, the media, and investors. Consistency and quality are the keys.
