I recently found this in a book publishers blog comments. It was made by a reader and not the blog author: I am a gluten for punishment. In case you’re unsure, it should read “I am a glutton for punishment.” Thank you, dictionary.com, for telling us that gluten is a…
There’s a famous saying that writing is rewriting. Rarely if ever does someone have a first draft go straight to the press. When you are writing your communications, cut yourself some slack and don’t be critical of any character, word or phrase you put down on the page. Write it…
I’ve never had the chance to write a TV script, but I would love to! If you are a company that is looking for a writer for this, e-mail me and I will do it for free. That’s how much I want to try this. A screenwriting course I took…
Many times I will work very hard on various little tasks in order to clear a block of time to dedicate to writing either a blog article, a marketing piece or even the first draft of a brand report. I have lots of enthusiasm when I’m completing those little tasks,…
A possible voice from the future: “You HAVE to go see Saw XIII! It was SO AWESOME! The best one since Saw VIII!” Nothing is more powerful than a referral. In the business world we call them testimonials. Testimonials are the best advertising you can get, because they are authentic…
This is an actual Facebook group: No one really wants to believe this, but when it comes to business communication, people do judge your company by the way you communicate and the mistakes you make in your writing. The only way to avoid this is to have someone in your…
Think of a press release as exciting, breaking news about your company, product or service. Pick up any newspaper and read a couple stories–I suggest browsing well-written newspapers online such as the New York Times or even Vanity Fair magazine–and you’ll get an idea of how a story is structured….
It’s not just about the words, it’s about the idea. Great writing motivates in some way. Here’s an excellent example of taking pretty basic copy and creating something that literally moves people towards your brand. Does your copy do this? Nala
Think of your headline as an ad for your ad. Stats show that headlines are five times more likely to be read than the rest of your ad. Some simple tips for reader-friendly ads are Keep it brief–one line only Make an interesting promise–but only if you can legitimately deliver…