I’m so proud of my friend (and sometimes client) Cheryl Penry of Will and Probate Company Ltd. She recently pitched an idea to Richard Branson who is now arranging for ‘his people’ to talk to ‘her people’ (i.e. her!). He also blogged and tweeted about her, which is sure to Read more…
Blog = contraction of web log, a log (diary) in reverse chronological order, that you post on the web In my view, websites are on their way down, while blogs are on their way up. There are a few reasons for this: Google likes regularly updated content By providing added Read more…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexKqvgPVuA]
If you’ve been to school and learned how to throw a sentence together, you might think you can write your own marketing copy. Chances are, you can’t! But, if you want to try anyway, here’s a failsafe process used by the professionals: 1. Do 360-degree research, understanding everything you can Read more…
Firstly, it’s important to use customer language. For example, I heard that the DVLA used to talk about the ‘vehicle excise duty’ on their website. Then they realised the rest of us call it the ‘car tax disc’ and had to rewrite their web copy to match.
To find out what language your customers use, use the Google AdWords keyword tool. It’s free!
You have to wait a moment while it loads. Then you can type in the search term/s of your choice along with the CAPTCHA code to prove you’re a human being not a robot. Google will return a list of suggested keywords, each showing how many times it’s searched per month and how high (or low) the competition is. (more…)
Looking for inspiration for your next ezine, blog post or tweet? Then take a tip from Cosmopolitan magazine, which is inhabited by some of the world’s best headline writers. Just adapt their words to suit your own product or service, and watch your click-throughs soar!
To give you some idea, here are today’s Cosmo headlines in bold, with my suggested tweaks in italic, for various occupations:
1. Health news you need to know now
Accountant: Tax news you need to know now
Plumber: Plumbing news you need to know now
Coach: Leadership news you need to know now
2. Pretty hairstyles to try this party season
Graphic designer: Lovely logos to suit the autumn
Insurance: Effective ways to protect your business during an economic slowdown
Retailer: Perfect gifts for that hard-to-buy-for person at Christmas
3. Why online dating may be harder than you think
Mechanic: Why an annual car service may be harder than you think
Event organiser: Why arranging your wedding may be harder than you think
IFA: Why choosing the right mortgage may be harder than you think
The best agency-client relationships are partnerships of mutual respect. A well-written brief helps you get the best out of your creative agency. Here’s why: – You will inspire better creative work – The work will be more effective – The results will be easier to measure – It saves you Read more…
Your task is to say the colour not read the word: RED BLUE GREEN PINK BLACK RED YELLOW PURPLE GREY ORANGE Did you find that tricky? Once reading has become automatic, your brain can’t *not* do it. This gives copywriters a power and responsibility when we’re writing text for posters, Read more…