Marketing Writing Resources for Creative Copywriters

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

You must make very difficult choices if you want your Web site to work. You can't serve everybody. If you try to, you will serve nobody. The first step in developing successful reader personas is to decide which readers you are *not* going to focus on.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Writing blog posts (and comments on blogs) is actually very simple. Keep your copy lively, factual, tight, clear, short and search engine optimized. Here are basic blog style guidelines to follow.

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Developing a great logo is a strange mix of art, science, psychology and (in most cases) a good amount of luck. In this, the first of a two-part series, we'll explain what a logo really is (and isn't!), suggest how to start development, and ask a few questions you'll need to answer before you begin.

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If you have clients (or bosses) who want you to write about who they are, you probably witness them thrusting a list of attributes in your face. On the list, you'll find the usual suspects: quality, commitment to service, out-of-the-box this and proactive that. But such vague attributes have little credibility. Instead, consider the following three techniques for transforming unclear attributes into compelling copy.

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With our focus on bold, blunt, "write-as-people-speak" prose in business, we no longer have any fancy phrases to lurk behind. We're on our own. Why has business writing become so much more direct in the comparatively short period of two generations or so?

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We have wonderful tools today that will tell us the value of the physical things in our factories and offices. Now we need to create wonderful tools and disciplines to measure all our information assets.

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This week, add your two pesos to the dilemma: What steps can you take to ensure your email newsletters get through spam filters (and don't bounce back)? Also this week, read your answers to: What do you do when your audience doesn't respond?

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Marketing departments often have the challenge of dealing with too much data. This week: How do you collect the right sort of data and measure the efficiency of a marketing campaign? Join the conversation! Also this week, read your answers to last week's dilemma: What is the best approach to ensure your newsletter code reaches the right inboxes?

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A single op-ed article will not change the way you or your organization is viewed overnight. But combined with other related initiatives, they are an integral part of an expertise-oriented PR program that will help solidify your firm's standing as an expert in its field.

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This week, add your two cents to the dilemma: What should publishers do to build reader involvement? Also this week, read your answers to the last issue: What makes long Web copy effective?

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The consulting proposal is a necessary evil. A great proposal can be decisive in winning a project; a poor one can cause you to lose a project, even if everything else in the sales process has gone flawlessly. Use these guidelines to a write a killer proposal every time.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

In the first part of this two-part article, we took a look at the heart of the Australian Spam Act and how it differs from other legislation. Here we conclude with a description of message types, together with some examples, as well as a brief discussion on penalties and international implications.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Chances are that when engineers propose a new car model, they don't fail to include an engine in their designs. Unfortunately, that's not true of many B2B marketers and their direct marketing strategies. Too many creative briefs have a great chassis—terrific messaging hooks, keen insight into audience desire—without the engine to drive it: an honest-to-goodness offer, a do-this-to-get-that promise.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

It's time for those in public relations to take a kinder, more empathetic approach to dealing with the media. OK, well maybe that's being too sensitive. But it does help to put yourself in a reporter's shoes when trying to get editorial coverage about your company or your client.

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Long copy works well in direct mail. But how does it work online? This week, add your own two cents to: How can long Web copy be compelling? Also this week, read your answers to the last dilemma: How do spam rules apply in the real world?

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The US started the ball rolling over a year ago with CAN-SPAM, followed closely by the EU directives implementation. This article, presented in two parts, looks at the Australian Spam Act, which came into force in April of this year. Here's how the Act is structured and how it's already making significant progress in the ongoing battle against spam.

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This week, add your two pesos to the dilemma: If you're a service business or sell a more complex product, is it still possibly to take advantage of the holiday shopping season? Also this week, read your answers to last week's problem: What is the best approach or message for marketing technical services and solutions?

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These days, businesses are increasingly using a full range of communication methods including email, Web and fax to enhance relationships with existing customers, as well as a low-cost means of acquiring new ones. Now an emerging communication mode, text messaging—or Short Message Service (SMS)—provides an additional and interesting opportunity for companies and organizations to differentiate themselves.

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E-marketing is about substance over show, logic over emotion, text over graphics. In fact: good Web marketers follow the Google motto: be useful.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

In today's competitive enterprise technology marketplace, the customer success story can be the tipping point for turning a prospect into a customer. Of course, the success story begins with a happy customer. But are you focusing on the right customers? Are you writing the best stories? Can your sales team and its prospects find the most relevant stories on your Web site?