The Write Blog
GOOGLE PLACES LISTINGS: FREE ONLINE SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING
Is your business listed on Google Places? If not, you’re missing out on a free, easy marketing opportunity that can help drive customers to your door. A Google Places listing means that your business can show up in this familiar list for local customers who do a Google search for keywords that match your business, […]
MAKING CONFIRMATION EMAILS FUN – NO, REALLY!
I had to share this. So, I bought some shoes from Zappos.com last month, and the day after I placed my order, this fun little confirmation email landed in my inbox: “Yay” is right. Zappos took something that could have been bone-dry and made it fun and funky. Especially when compared to this sturdy, functional-not-fashionable […]
56 GOOGLE SEARCH TRICKS FOR STUDENTS
This article is courtesy of OnlineDegree.net A great list of tips for anyone who does research online. Google has been around for ages, and if you’re just starting college, you’ve probably used the search engine for most of your academic life. But there’s more to the powerful search tool than just typing in keywords. Here […]
AP: GOODBYE “WEB SITE;” HELLO “WEBSITE”
Good news for all word nerds: The Associated Press has finally made the switch from the old-fashioned “Web site” to the simpler, more natural-looking “website.” Yay! To me, “Web site” has always seemed a little stuffy and English teacher-ish. Good for AP to know when it’s time to change things up. According to the AP’s […]
THE MONEY QUESTION: SHOULD YOU INCLUDE PRICES IN YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS?
Should businesses include prices on their marketing materials, landing pages, websites, etc? One school of thought says no – get customers in the door with free offers or discounted pricing, then, once they understand the value of the product or service, hit them up with the prices. That theory can work … sometimes. But hiding […]
AP STYLE FAQS: PART 2
Last week, we kicked off a mini-series of Associated Press Stylebook-themed blog posts. This week, we’re sharing a few more gems of wisdom from The AP Stylebook Online. Q: What’s the rule for capitalizing a person’s title? A: It’s complicated, but here are the basics: AP defines a formal title as “one that denotes a […]
SCREENWRITERS AND WEB 2.0: TALENTVILLE.COM
Since the very beginning of blogging (I’m talking Livejournal and DiaryLand days), writers have been using the web to showcase their talent and get their names out into the world. Then came socialnetworking: The now-obsolete Makeout Club and Friendster. Myspace. And the most popular kid on the block, Facebook. Now entrepreneurs are extending social networks […]
AP STYLE FAQS: PART 1
Does “city-wide” need a hyphen? If you’re writing about a sculpture, should you italicize the title, or put it in quotation marks? The truth is, there’s no right answer. In most cases, style choices like this can vary from client to client. But what do you do when your client has no clear preference? Or […]
DAILY LIT-ERARY THERAPY IN YOUR INBOX
Good writers are generally voracious readers (feel free to challenge me on that claim if you want!). For a writer, reading is just like warming up and stretching your brain before you sprint into a new project. Here’s my favorite way to get a little reading time in throughout the day (which also doubles as […]
POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE MARKETING . . . AND GAMEFLY’S “BAD GAME” TV SPOT
So, Gamefly.com has been running this ad lately. Check it out: People buy bad video games. They freak out, realizing that they’ve purchased bad video games. They continue to freak out, ostensibly because they’re stuck with their bad video games (and out the 50 to 60 bucks they paid for them). The ad ends with […]