Homer Simpson Seriously Needs to Update His Website
Isn’t it time that Homer Simpson relaunched his website? One of my favorite Simpsons episodes of all time is “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes”, in which Homer creates his own site. His first attempt satirizes the trend at the time of substituting flashy (and annoying) graphics for useful content. It may be the most annoying [...]
Journalists Use Social Media To Find Stories
Since reporters are using social media to get sources for their stories, businesses that want to get noticed have an obvious incentive to start adding blogs, Twitter and the rest of it to their existing communications strategy. That was the message from Lisa Johnson of the CBC and Kirk LaPointe of the Vancouver Sun at [...]
Brilliant Examples of Really Bad Writing
I just came across some incredible samples of really awful writing that blew my mind. These kinds of failures can often be more instructive than successes. Naturally, the worst examples come from academia. Still, they do have lessons for writers of business materials and marketing content. Here are the best of the worst (Or would [...]
Why Do Businesses Hire Copywriters?
I think this classic quote sums it up: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you’re doing, but nobody else does.” When you’re too busy focusing on your core business activities like planning stuff, making stuff and moving stuff, you hire a copywriter to help you [...]
Be Consistent With Your Messaging
Write, rinse, repeat. My latest writing tips for business in the Lift Strategies Meet the Experts blog: There’s certainly something to be said for fine-tuning and adapting your messaging for different markets if you are targeting distinct niches. That said, a coherent marketing and communication strategy will typically involve some key language that is repeated [...]
Your Website Makes My Computer Want to Blow Up
First, you got a guy like me to write some great content for your website that helps bring visitors to you. Next, you got your web designer to put together a fancy site with tons of neat Flash animation. You’ve got SEO up the wazoo. It’s all coming together. So why aren’t more people staying [...]
Make Every Word Count
For any sort of business collateral from websites to sales letters, you need to get to the point fast. Every word counts, as I reminded readers of the Lift Strategies blog this week: A quick example: Which statement from the Services page of a Vancouver-based professional organizing company do you think is better? A) Out [...]
Your Website Pulls All Your Marketing Efforts Together
Why does pretty much every business need a website? It’s not just a case of “everyone else has one, so I guess I better have one, too” — though that certainly does still come up in some conversations with new copywriting clients. As fellow Vancouver copywriter (and much more) Rick Sloboda puts it, Websites are [...]
Copywriting Tip 5. Answer These Questions
Writing great sales copy, website content and ads involves answering questions that go beyond the W5 of news reports and press releases (You know: Who, What, Where, When and Why). As Ernest W. Nicastro illustrates in Salesmanship, Repetition and Direct Mail, copywriters have to dig deeper to get the message across: An imposing looking executive [...]
Speaking at Social Media Club. Lessons from the Olympics
I’m speaking as part of a panel of communications professionals, social media consultants and bloggers at the next event of the Social Media Club in Vancouver. The theme for the evening is discussing the positive and negative impacts of social media on the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It’s happening at 7 pm on Thursday, March [...]
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