Stumbling across the above Benjamin Franklin quote gave me a great excuse to write about an important, yet frequently overlooked, issue in the copywriting process: the copywriting brief. Besides, I love a theatrical opening. When I meet with a client to prepare for a new project, I ask a lot of questions. Although I love listening to people's stories, my grilling has a purpose: I'm pulling together the bones of a brief. While you may wonder, "Sheez, why all the questions?", t

Is your marketing copy failing to convert visitors or readers into sales? You're frustrated, unsure of what's causing the issue? It could be that you’re making one of the most common copywriting errors. Writing for yourself rather than for the people you're selling to is so easy to do. But it's also disastrous. You simply won’t have the impact you desire, no matter how eloquent your words. Industries and markets continue to heat up, giving us more choice than ever before. Esp

Find out how to conduct a killer interview that will give you great content for your company's marketing communications.

Don't disregard interviews as too time consuming for your marketing plan. They're worth your effort; they're a fantastic method of gathering raw content for case studies, news stories, testimonials and other business copy. Interview know-how is an essential tool in a journalist’s kit of tricks. Whether you prefer a good grilling by Jon Snow or the comedy banter of Graham Norton, people develop their own technique, yet the basic skills are the same. So if you are considering i

Are you looking to get some publicity for your small business or start-up? Thinking about contacting a journalist or two to get a nice piece in the press or online? If you’re gearing up for some PR action but aren’t sure how to proceed, then this article is for you. First of all, you need a strategy. Journalists aren’t on tap, ready to cover your story (sadly); they’re generally inundated with stories. In fact, they have so much incoming that on average they spend less than o