kathy
What a difference a conversation makes
18th January 2012 | Posted in Content creation
Tough assignment yesterday. I needed to put together 350 words for an article for an inhouse magazine. Should have been straightforward. I’d been sent reams of background material after all. But … the slides, press releases, internal emails and even the briefing documents were just chock full of words I thought I knew but clearly had […]
Marketing writing for small businesses
11th January 2012 | Posted in Small business
A talk for the Women in Business network Rather than spend 10 minutes talking about what I do for different clients, I thought I would run through some of the issues that I think about when I’m working with customers to create copy for them. These are things that you can think about in your […]
Making the most of a customer interview
28th November 2011 | Posted in Content creation
If you’re putting together an article for a case study, newsletter or a blog, and you’ve got half an hour with your customer, you want to make the best of your time. Research the company – make sure you know what your customer’s business is about and the market they’re in so you can make […]
The return of the red pen
2nd November 2011 | Posted in Editing
Never sure whether to reveal my longevity in this business, but when I started editing copy, there was no Microsoft Word or markup highlights to turn on. What we used was the red pen. Big, fat, inky, satisfying red pens. And we would whizz through hard copy content, using the standard copy-editing and proofreading marks […]
Why written words matter
12th October 2011 | Posted in Content creation
If you can’t be there in person, then your written words have to make the sale for you. The words in your ads and mailshots must grab attention. Your web words should encourage visitors to read on and buy. Your brochures, case studies, data sheets and more need to prove that you can answer your […]
A short list. Why brochures don’t work as web copy.
5th May 2011 | Posted in Web content
Deep sighs whenever the clients say they want to use our carefully-crafted brochure copy on their web site. I know it saves them money, but this is why it’s wrong. In a brochure you start at the beginning by showing your understanding of the industry and empathising with the business needs. On the web you […]
Practical steps to successful case studies
18th March 2011 | Posted in Content creation
I’ve been writing case studies for a long time. Even before I started being called a copywriter, I was a journalist and writing up real-life stories for magazines. Over time I’ve developed strategies for getting the best story down on the keyboard with the minimum of struggle. These are tips from my experience. [But before […]
Is your content repeating on itself?
22nd February 2011 | Posted in Content creation
There’s a common mantra about content, exhorting recycle, repurpose, reuse. A lot of businesses are picking up on the recycle and reuse, but they’re ignoring the repurpose. It’s important. As ever, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Suppose you’ve received a piece of direct mail (print or email) that interests you. You follow the call […]
What’s the point of your newsletter?
15th February 2011 | Posted in Marketing communications
I’ve been working on newsletters for several companies recently, and I’ve noticed a distinct change of approach from the marketing team. Old-style newsletters were generally a hard sell. “You’ve bought this product from us. Now you need add-ons and upgrades to get something even better.” Others were full of company news. It was about the […]
Content that helps the sales process
24th January 2011 | Posted in Content creation
Those immensely knowledgeable people at Marketing Sherpa have provided an insight into using content in the B2B sales process, available for a short time only. Many of the thoughts of their three contributors fall in line with my own experience as a copywriter, so here’s a summary of their discussion, together with some words of […]