Copywriting That Respects Customers
I’ve spoken about showing respect for readers in general, but here I’d like to focus on customers who are reading your marketing collateral in particular. The following was on a Post Shredded Wheat Spoon Size Honey Nut cereal box I purchased recently. No need to read the entire thing, but there’s a reason I’m posting almost all of it. An ingredient list that is so good, we have nothing to hide. Wouldn’t it be great if it were easy to understand what is in your...
Read MoreFalse Logic And Salable Products
Bob Bly’s email about false logic in advertising and sales copy made me think. Copywriters–the best of our breed, anyway, and he’s among them–aren’t all adjectives, adverbs, and corny jingles. We apply technique to shade a brand, product or service in the most enticing and relatable light. It’s not always easy, though, and that’s where false logic comes in. False logic makes a fact or attribute more appealing than it would otherwise be–a way to...
Read MoreFriday Marketing Spotlight: Kemya Scott
Kemya Scott of Phisco Marketing is a hard-working marketing strategist I’ve been glad to get to know over the past several months via Twitter and her blog. She knows her stuff and knows how to use it well, so I was excited when she shared one of her early marketing lessons at my invitation here. One of the very first lessons I learned about marketing my business is simple: you never know where your next client will come from. I’ve attended personal affairs where I wouldn’t be thinking...
Read MoreHow To Know Whether Your Copy Is Too Creative
Can your audience spell it? I visit chief wordworker (and she really is a chief!) Nancy Friedman’s blog frequently, mainly to laugh at the gaffes other creative decision-makers have made in naming and marketing their businesses. Because I’ve never made a mistake like that, ever. One of the most frequent elements Nancy calls out is spelling. Is it too much to ask that it not be so korny we don’t remember it’s spelled that way? Deformed syllables that you want to be...
Read MoreFriday Marketing Spotlight: Jason Konopinski
Writer and communications professional Jason Konopinski has always impressed with the deep thoughts on creativity and writing that he shares at his blog, and he did the same with the lesson he shared for us at my invitation: A recurring theme for me is always knowing your core competencies and delivering on those in everything you do. Do what you do–and only what you do–well. Simple, right? Well, I think a lot of us–especially those of us running SMBs–can run into...
Read MoreMarketing: What You Think They’ll Think
The above thought had been in my head for months before Ithe following thought arrived in my inbox from social media queen Liz Strauss’s weekly email list: I had been thinking about who I thought they were and who they thought we were. That thinking might have been translated to “What will our customers think of that?” A better thought might have been “What do I think of that?” Now when I make decisions, I make sure to consult myself in that mix. I’ll never...
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