Posts Tagged ‘writing copy’

The Power of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Writing Promotional Copy

Friday, July 21st, 2023

It’s not uncommon for students in both high school and higher ed to question whether what they’re learning will actually have relevance in the real world of work. There are three concepts, though, from several speech classes I taught at the undergraduate level, that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in creating content designed to resonate with various needs and preferences of the target audience: ethos, logos, and pathos. Before I lose you, trust me, these are really simple concepts that you can use to create and evaluate your promotional content. (more…)

10 Copywriting Tips to Get Better Results

Thursday, November 3rd, 2022

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement, or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something–most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: (more…)

When You Make It All About You, You Lose

Tuesday, June 21st, 2022

Whenever I’m called upon to offer a critique on or advice about a company or consultant’s copy – whether it’s on a web site, in a brochure, an ad, a blog, or whatever – the first thing I do is read through the copy to see whether the focus is on “we/me” or “you/your.” Most of the copy I look at is the former. A quick, easy and relatively painless way to improve it (more…)

What Is Verisimilitude?

Tuesday, May 31st, 2022

Years ago I was fortunate to be able to work with one of the true gurus in the field of direct marketing copywriting—Herschell Gordon Lewis. A marketing genius, a horror-film writer! (he’s actually known for creating the “splatter film” sub-genre of horror, according to Wikipedia)— (more…)

What Are the Best Tips for Writing Great Copy?

Monday, May 9th, 2022

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement, or a page or blog for your website, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: (more…)

Sometimes SEO, as We Typically Think of it, Just Doesn’t Matter!

Thursday, February 25th, 2021

I’ve written about search engine optimization (SEO) in the past and have gathered input from a wide range of content and digital marketing experts about the topic. As someone who was writing advertising copy long before SEO was “a thing,” I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the concept. Or maybe I should say a love/grudging respect for the concept. (more…)

The 3 “Must Knows” for Effective Content Marketing

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021

It’s always challenging to come up with a list of “the top” anything. But, whatever the subject matter, it’s an interesting exercise. It requires stepping back to think strategically about what matters most. In this case, what matters most when it comes to content marketing. Having been engaged in content marketing for a number of years now, and having achieved a fair amount of success with our own and client accounts, we’d point to these as the “Three Must Knows” for effective content marketing. (more…)

SEO and Me: A Love/Hate Relationship

Monday, March 16th, 2020

by Linda Pophal

 

I have a love/hate relationship with search engine optimization (SEO). I understand SEO. I very often use the concepts in my own writing—and often use the concepts in writing for clients. Sometimes, though, and probably because I was a writer long before SEO was even “a thing,” I balk at what can seem at times to be a misguided focus—a singular focus—on SEO to the exception of everything else. (more…)

10 Tips for Writing Great Copy!

Tuesday, December 24th, 2019

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: (more…)

How to Deal With Communication Dabblers

Thursday, August 15th, 2019

If you’re ever created content for any purpose, chances are you’ve encountered a dabbler. A dabbler is someone who, when asked to review copy (or who is responsible for reviewing copy because of their position), suffers from severe scope creep. They just can’t stop themselves from offering far more, and far more detailed, input than what was expected.

Dabblers like to dabble. It’s what they do. Unfortunately, what they do can create a lot of headaches, and much rework and added expense, for those in the business of producing and publishing content of any kind.  (more…)