copywriting
What’s the shelf life of a blog?
24th June 2020 | Posted in Blogging, Content creation
Current times have thrown up a whole new set of search terms for blogs. This time last year, who had heard of ‘coronavirus’, ‘Covid-19’, ‘lockdown’, or even ‘Joe Wickes’? The temptation in writing blogs for today is to throw today’s popular pandemic terms into the content with abandon. That’s certainly not wrong, especially if you […]
Who’s the expert? You are!
| Posted in Small business, Website
Writing the words for your website can be a daunting thought. There are so many things to get right, from grammar to SEO, that it’s not surprising many people want to hand the whole project off to someone else. That’s a great idea in many ways. As long as we’re all thinking about how complementary […]
Getting the grumps out of the way – and then starting again
| Posted in Blogging
I spent ages writing a blog yesterday that I’m not going to publish. Why? Because it broke umpteen of my rules of good marketing communications: It was grouchy It was very long It meandered It was all about me Now, I believe I have very good grounds for getting frustrated with a certain sector of […]
Copywriting for marketing in a Covid-19 world
11th June 2020 | Posted in copywriting
In the UK we’re just emerging from lockdown after the first wave of coronavirus prompted the government to urge us to stay at home if possible, and social distance while we were out and about. This has had a profound effect on every aspect of business and community. Organisations of every size have suspended marketing […]
Thank goodness for Mrs Sweet, Mrs Hooper and the staffroom in general
21st May 2020 | Posted in Editing, Marketing communications, Website
I’ve been thinking of late how much I owe to the lessons at school that I didn’t really appreciate at the time. During lockdown I’ve reacquainted myself with my exceedingly dusty sewing machine. Quite honestly, if I hadn’t been taught by the terrifying Mrs Sweet about how to thread up the machine (and why are […]
Just one audience at a time keeps your messaging simple
11th May 2020 | Posted in Marketing communications, Small business, Website
You’ve got great ideas. They’re popping out of your head at the speed of knots. Offer these services to those people, these products to another set of people, add value and upsell with another great bunch of ideas …. Enthusiasm for your business – especially if you’ve got a new great idea you want to […]
Does being a number make it true?
17th January 2020 | Posted in Marketing communications
‘Smallpox cases double in three years’, screams a headline. I’ve made this one up, but we’ve seen plenty of similar stories over the years. Great pulling power, but what’s the real story? Suppose there was only one case three years ago, and this year there are two. Not the need for panic that the headline […]
Timeless content
20th March 2019 | Posted in Blogging, Content creation, Web content
I wrote this Loneliness Guide for the When They Get Older blog five years ago, and it’s still one of the most popular pieces on the site. It’s collected some impressive backlinks along the way, which helps enormously with the profile of the site. Why has it lasted so well? Partly because the subject matter […]
Board member bios. Why so dry?
19th September 2018 | Posted in Branding, Editing, Web content, Website
When I wrote my book on B2B copywriting, I devoted a section to writing for websites. Content for websites, said I, should be in line with the tone of voice determined by the company. In many cases that means professional, approachable and easy to consume. The one exception is the page of bios for the […]
I’ve written a book. A short book. About the value of copywriting.
2nd July 2018 | Posted in book, Branding, Marketing communications, Web content
Why did I write a book? Celebrity? Gosh, no thanks. Lifelong ambition? Nope. They say there’s a book in everyone. I think maybe Barbara Cartland got mine. Money. Not yet but I’m open to offers. Publicity for my copywriting business? I confess. That’s why. The end. Or not. Let me explain a little more. As […]