Ever heard the expression “murder your darlings?” All writers have them. Those pesky phrases that creep in to every article or report. Make a note of what they are and be ruthless in culling them during the edit process. Read More
Category: Top tips
How important is spelling?
Well, perhaps you can you tell me… “Admiring the view has just taking on a whole new meaning.” This is the line taken today from the Nissan UK website, where they are extolling the virtues of their brand new X-Trail model. I already own an older version of this particular car, so was checking out Read More
Tip of the week: get somebody out there talking for you in a crisis, however bad at the Co-op Group
Never, never ever stop communicating when there is a crisis. Refusal to talk is bad Today the Co-operative Group refused to respond on radio to the critical report by Lord Myners that the Co-operative Group is “disfunctional”. The BBC’s Radio 4 “The World at One” announced that nobody from the Co-op wanted to talk. Shame Read More
Use lobbying as a social movement in an integrated campaign: see the success of Boost Bingo
Lobbying is a vital weapon in the arsenal of corporate communications. But it can’t be done in the old way: wining and dining the great and the good. It needs to have a social movement behind it to work. And that social movement needs social media. Slash bingo tax A great case study is the Read More
As we always knew, less IS more…
“Facebook posts with less than 250 characters get 60% more engagement.” So ran the headline on a recent LinkedIn post. I’m sure you’ve also seen similar claims. It seems that as the volume of content proliferates, our attention spans shrink and contract. As writers, we need to be very careful about how much stuff Read More
Topping story from @lexitopping on Glasgow pub deaths
Great introduction sentence and structure to The Guardian article on the Glasgow pub story today on the paper edition on page 1. Can’t find it online, which is a pity. It was on the front page, written by Lexi Topping. It is a narrative intro: “Saverio Petri, one of the owners of the Clutha Vaults Read More
“Too much information.”
Actually, I think the precise quote is: “Too many offers. Too many options. Too much information.” This was just one of the many relevant points made by Nicholas Coleridge, President of Conde Nast UK, speaking at yesterday’s PPA Conference. Everyone in the room seemed to agree. The conference focused on customer marketing communications (and congratulations to Read More
Expert help with your writing, when you really need it
We all know what it’s like being trained. Especially if it’s a good course, with an inspiring tutor. You eagerly soak up the top tips and new ideas, and resolve to apply new lessons back at your desk. Then time passes, and while you are making every effort to control bad habits, and learn new, Read More
So, how many hours in your working day?
Every day, in business, someone will say to me “I just don’t/didn’t have the time”. Of course, what I actually hear is “It just wasn’t important enough for me to complete”. We all have to work with the same amount of time. Our heroes in business, whoever they may be, have the same 24 hours Read More
So why start at the beginning…?
When writing, I usually create the headline first. I could be creating an e-shot, a web page, a blog post, or even a press release. Having decided on the headline, I then find it much, much easier to write the body copy, because the headline gives my imagination a focus, a theme, a central message. Read More