Content, content, content! With online marketing, it’s all about content. Blog posts, e-newsletters, social media, articles, e-books, videos…whew! Who has time to generate all that content? I love writing, but even I can get exhausted just thinking about it, not to mention that, well, I have other things to do. I’m sure you do, too,…
Social Media Writing: How It’s Different and Why You Should Care
Whether your marketing plan is all social media all the time, or an occasional blog post or tweet combined with more traditional methods (such as networking), you need to understand the nuances of communicating your value using social media outlets. Every type of written communication has its own rules for content, tone, and formatting. Following…
10 Must-read Copywriting and Online Marketing Blog Posts From 2010
For this week’s post, I’m diverging from my usual format. To become better at my craft, and improve the quality of the tips I bring to you, I regularly peruse the blogosphere for articles on copywriting and online marketing. This list represents the best of the best that I read in 2010–truly helpful, insightful articles…
Give Your Business Writing the Authenticity Advantage
As the term “authenticity” has gained momentum in recent years, I’ve been surprised. Hasn’t authenticity always been important? Yes. It’s just that with the rise in popularity of social media and online marketing, a lack of authenticity is easier to spot. You can get away with a lack of sincerity if customers only interact with…
Are You an Idea Thief?
You may remember from some point in your schooling a lecture about a little thing called plagiarism. Wikipedia states, “Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as ‘the wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and publication, of another author’s language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one’s own original work,’” attributing this definition to…
How to Maintain Objectivity in Writing About Your Business
Anyone who reads this blog regularly will recognize the theme of audience awareness. It is probably the one most important thing to learn about business writing, and particularly promotional writing. That is, who you are writing for will determine what you write, how you write it, how much you write, and what medium you deliver…
Features and Benefits 101
In promotional writing, it is important to inform readers what’s great about your products and services, but you also need to let them know how those characteristics will make their lives better. The things that are great about your products and services are generally referred to as features, while how they will make customers’ lives…
5 Ways to Use Articles for Marketing
In last week’s post, I talked about mastering the art of the article—that is, how to write a good article, and some of the elements that should be included. I stated in that post, “The article is a flexible and effective form that can be used in many ways for business and promotional writing.” The…
Mastering the Art of the Article
You’ve seen them in newspapers, you’ve read them in magazines. They appear on many websites, and sometimes blog posts are even mistaken for them. They are the foundation of trade publications. What am I talking about? Articles! The article is a flexible and effective form that can be used in many ways for business and…
How to Spot a Bad Writing Idea From a Mile Away
Before you start the planning, researching, or drafting for your writing project, and WAY before you get into revisions, you need to come up with an idea. The idea is the true starting point for any writing project. There are many ways to come up with ideas, and you need to be able to evaluate…
