What exactly is copywriting?
It may seem obvious what a copywriter does but you’d be surprised the number of people who ask me this question at networking events.
The Macquarie Dictionary definition of a copywriter is “a writer of copy for advertisements or publicity releases” which is too specific. Wikipedia has a better, broader definition.
Today, a copywriter’s skills extend beyond writing just advertisements and press [...]
How good copy editing can turn a brochure around
I recently received a request from a lady who is a teacher at a Chinese Language & Culture Training (CLCT) business to copy edit a a brochure she had written to promote her chinese language and culture training courses.
Chinese is her first language and even though her English is very good, she needed help to improve the brochure’s [...]
How good are your writing and numeracy skills?
A recent report published by the Australian Industry Group (AI Group) revealed that more than 75% of employers say their business suffers because of workers’ poor writing and numeracy skills.
I came across this interesting yet alarming statistic on a news item on the optus zoo website. You can read the article here. According to the report, [...]
How to write great direct mail letters
I recently started work on a series of direct mail letters promoting a wedding videography business. They approached me because they felt their copy was dry and boring and lacked that certain something to make it stand out from the crowd.
Whilst the facts were there, the content needed some creative treatment to encourage readers to read the letter and take [...]
School’s back - time to get back to business
The holidays are over and it’s time to officially knuckle down and get on with business, not an easy task after spending last week soaking up the sun on the wonderful beaches at Binnalong Bay on the east coast of Tasmania. The good thing is I do feel as if I’ve had a break and I’m quite [...]
Active vs Passive Writing
It’s been a while since I caught up on some good reading so when the opportunity presented itself on the weekend I grabbed it.
My “library” hasn’t been stocked up in ages and I don’t have any recent bestsellers but instead own a collection of travel narratives, cookbooks and crime novels that I rotate every couple [...]
Here’s more on interviewing for a feature article
If you don’t have access to a microcassette recorder, you’ll have to make a hard copy log of the interview. And your feature article will only be as good as the notes you take. Learning shorthand at school many years ago was a skill that I’ve let slip, but it is a great asset when it [...]
Stimulating ideas for article marketing
Now that I have decided to invest more time and money in article marketing, I need to get the creative juices flowing and come up with ideas for content. Any of the topics I have listed below could be written as articles to be submitted to article directories, as long as they are written well, are around [...]
Article Marketing - what’s all the fuss about?
It seems that everywhere I look, everyone’s talking about article marketing and how it’s a powerful way to grow your business. I found out more at a recent MCEI workshop and decided to join the article marketing bandwagon. But what is all the fuss about?
In a nutshell, article marketing is a way of getting free publicity for [...]
Feature article writing - writing the first draft
Before getting stuck in to writing your first draft, think about what it is you want to say. If you are writing a profile on a person based on an interview with that person, what do you want to say about them? If you are writing a personal narrative about a place you visited for [...]
Feature Writing - questions to ask before you begin
You’ve chosen your topic, but before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) ask yourself some key questions:-
what do I want to say about my chosen topic?
have I gathered all the information I need?
am I clear about the type of story I am working on?
am I clear on the angle I am exploring [...]
Sourcing ideas for feature articles
Although I love writing feature articles, at times I find it can be a laborious process that consumes time I could spend on other things to do with my business. It depends on the subject matter and how much I am “into” it at the time. I need to be in the right mood and have access to bowls of [...]
Tips on writing for web sites
It may sound obvious, but before putting together a web site, it’s important to answer some basic questions which will help organise your web site. What is the site’s main purpose? To sell products? Provide information to members? Encourage volunteers? Recruit people? Is there a secondary purpose, for instance a corporate site like a bank may [...]
How to write a news release that journalists will use
It may sound obvious, but the most important thing about a news release is that it should contain ‘news’. ‘News’ is what we see on the television and read about in newspapers - it isn’t what you or your boss think it should be. It is - what it is. To get your news release [...]
Tips on writing a successful newsletter
My PR training has taught me that before writing a newsletter, whether it is for employees or paid subscribers, it is important that it has a purpose and that you are clear on who you are writing for. A successful newsletter must meet an unmet need in a distinctive way, be distributed so that it [...]
Feature Articles
I’ve just had an article I wrote published online. It was only a short one but the entire content was used and it was a great feeling to see my name in print again. Some feature articles I’ve written took a while to research, write up, check and re-check before being submitted to the publisher and at times they were a [...]
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