Categories for Writing

Anti-Social Media: Writing in Favour of Change to Social Media

Social media writing badge The heat-seeking missiles are out and pointed squarely at social media. Writing in Time Magazine, Rachel Simmons likened social media to “a bathroom wall, letting teens sling insults with the recklessness that comes only with anonymity.”

Imperial evidence supports Ms. Simmons’ alarmism. A 2016 paper presented robust cross-cultural evidence linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness and self-objectification in adolescents.

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Oscar-winning Movies for Writing Fans

You hear “Oscar-winning movies” and your mind immediately goes to the big four: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director. They’re the “majors,” the awards you sit through the whole telecast to get to. And they’re usually worth the wait. There was Tom Hanks’s beautiful tribute to two gay men in his acceptance speech for Philadelphia, Halle Berry’s emotional moment on stage after winning for Monster’s Ball and perhaps the best of the best, Steven Spielberg’s plea to the world’s educators to show Schindler’s List to their students.

However, if you’re a fan of the written word like we are, the highlight of the show is Best Original Screenplay. It’s often sandwiched midway through the telecast and rarely gets much fanfare. And the winners don’t see their careers skyrocket to new heights like Best Actor winners (Forbes found that an Oscar win can boost an actor’s salary by over 80 percent).

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Write Anything Like a Senior Copywriter Would

A senior copywriter
This year marks our tenth year in business. Considering that two-thirds of all small businesses fail by year ten, that’s pretty good. Over the past decade, we’ve learned a lot about what people want from the senior copywriter and senior editor they hire. One of the more common comments we’ve received is, “I want to learn to write the way you do.”

And, of course, they would want that; it’d be much more cost effective if they didn’t have to come to us for every single thing they had to communicate.

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2018’s Best Copywriting

The KFC FCK ad from 2018 Three letters. THREE LETTERS! That sums up 2018’s best copywriting

You see it. You get it. And if you were counting on the Colonel that week, you can’t help but give them a pass for their fowl fail, because they made you laugh. So you’ll go back.

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Writing Advice: Take a Walk on the Wilde Side.

Oscar Wilde Monument in Dublin We get asked for writing advice all the time; from clients, students and the occasional family member. And while each request requires a different approach, some pieces of writing advice are universal.

Getting to know quips and brilliances from Oscar Wilde is one of those universals.

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A Great Tagline. A Great Company.

A few years ago, we were bouncing around the idea of replacing “Choose Your Words Wisely.” In retrospect, it was a silly exercise because we have a great tagline. But one alternative we quite liked was “Well said. Well read.”

It was objectively good: catchy, well-balanced, thought-provoking. We knew it (or an iteration of it) would find a home somewhere.

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The Ultimate Copywriting/Copyediting Playlist

Listening to a playlist In 2001, researchers studied how background music affected the quality of people’s writing. The findings showed that “background music significantly disrupted writing fluency” — a fairly cut-and-dry case for writing in silence.

Unless you’re one of those people who finds silence louder than noise. Or you’re the kind of person who feeds off secondary sensory stimulation (creativity in one area is heightened by exposure to creativity in another). In fact, many non-professionals forced into copywriting or copyediting find secondary sensory stimulation to be helpful in tackling the task at hand and feeling good about the results.

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The Copywriter’s Curse

Stressed out copywriter
As copywriters, we immerse ourselves in our clients’ businesses. We get to know everything about them because it’s our job to essentially become them. We assume their voice, their tone and manner, and their personality. Their aspirations become our aspirations. Their promises become our promises. And their customers become our customers.

We essentially lose ourselves in them. It’s part of the job, and it’s a fun part of the job.

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The Power of A Value Prop

Most business owners can clearly describe what their company does. But how many can clearly describe what they do for their customers? These are two very different statements, and the latter is far more valuable than the former — and in marketing circles, that statement is called a “value prop,” which in plain English translates to “what’s in it for me?”

The purpose of a value prop.

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Content Writer or Copywriter: Which Do You Need?

Content vs copy, displayed as a short order cook vs a high-end chef The difference between a content writer and a copywriter is the difference between a fast food joint and a Michelin restaurant. Both have their place in the world, but their value depends on the appetite of the people in the room.

A content writer deals in quantity

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Anti-Social Media: Writing in Favour of Change to Social Media

Categories for Writing

Anti-Social Media: Writing in Favour of Change to Social Media

Oscar-winning Movies for Writing Fans

Write Anything Like a Senior Copywriter Would

2018’s Best Copywriting

Writing Advice: Take a Walk on the Wilde Side.

A Great Tagline. A Great Company.

The Ultimate Copywriting/Copyediting Playlist

The Copywriter’s Curse

The Power of A Value Prop

Content Writer or Copywriter: Which Do You Need?

How Can We Help You?

And it's off!