Loud and Literal Is a Mantra for Us All
Signs must communicate quickly and efficiently. Imagine if all your communications had to communicate visually all the time. A sign of the times is that new media is changing how we write, design and think about communications. 
You might say that new media is not changing us for the better. Regardless, we are all changing. The biggest change that I see is the tendency for smaller blocks of copy. Texting is changing and shortening our spelling: “idrc” or “idk.” Twitter only allows you 140 characters of copy. People will only spend a few minutes on a website and then they are gone.
However our scanning, 24-hour Twitter, smartphone, herky-jerky, Facebook lifestyles are really changing in ways we can never anticipate. What I do know is that new media is changing our patience with copy. Our copy blocks need to get shorter — and in my opinion, harder to write. So take a look at that long mission statement, that long letter, that verbose brochure, that 50-slide PowerPoint: New media is giving us Media Attention Deficit Disorder. 
So:
- Cut down copy.
- Bullet when you can.
- Use short little lines.
- One thought per paragraph.
- Bold or highlight key words.
- Underline what I need to know.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.