The Write Blog
MISUSED QUOTATION MARKS ARE “BAD”
When it comes to writing, there are dozens of rules just begging to be broken. Some are flexible and give you a little wiggle room — like hyphenation or deciding whether to use the comma before the “and” in lists. But there are other grammar rules that you just don’t break. You don’t tweak them; […]
COOLEST USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
So, we all know that social media is here to stay. Chances are, your company has a blog, a LinkedIn profile, and at least one employee whose day-to-day responsibilities include tweeting. It wasn’t long ago that companies that leveraged Twitter and the like were viewed as cutting-edge. But today, social media marketing is a given. […]
WHY GHOST BLOGGING FOR YOUR COMPANY IS NEEDED, AND ETHICAL.
I’ve been reading some great posts by Jason Falls and Mark Schaefer on ghost blogging, so I thought I’d throw in my two cents. Is it OK to hire a ghostwriter for your blog? My answer is a resounding “Yes!” Maybe. That is, under certain conditions. And here’s what I think those conditions are: The […]
TWITTER FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: IS IT WORTH IT?
Have you heard yourself saying something similar to this: Social media isn’t for me or my business. Twitter is just for kids. My clients don’t care about that kind of stuff. Well, think again. Nielsen NetRatings just published a surprising research study: Teen’s don’t Tweet. That’s right, 84% of Twitter’s recent growth is due to […]
16 MORE WAYS TO BUILD YOUR WEB CREDIBILITY
This week, I have to send a big thank-you to one of our awesome clients, Dan K. After reading our earlier blog post about building web credibility, Dan did a little research on his own and sent us some really cool information about The Stanford Web Credibility Project. This project is studying the components of […]
BECOME A PITCHMAN: MARKETING THE BILLY MAYS WAY
You’re all aware of the mega success that the Pitchmen star and TV sales guru Billy Mays achieved in his lifetime. I recently came across a post from Big Wave Blog that analyzes exactly how Billy Mays was able to get people to buy his products over and over and over again. Marketing Lessons From […]
LOSING CONTROL IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
I recently blogged about a webinar I attended featuring David Meerman Scott. The webinar described what businesses are doing to grab attention for their products and services – both on the web and in the media. (In case you were wondering, there are four ways to do this, which you can read about here in David […]
THE KEYWORD GAME: BASIC SEO TIPS
I recently attended another webinar, this one through PRWeb entitled “How to Use Your News to Bring Customers Straight to Your Door.” As you know, SEO is the name of the game in establishing a strong online presence – whether you’re selling running shoes or life coaching services. Janet Driscoll Miller is President and CEO […]
RECESSION, ADVERTISING, AND OPPORTUNITY: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Seems like when the going gets tough, the marketing budget is the first thing to get the axe. And, at first glance, the logic makes sense – after all, when money’s tight, isn’t it more important to keep the business you already have instead of dropping buckets of cash chasing new clients? Well, yes and […]
KILLER TIPS FOR STREAMLINING YOUR COPY, PART 2
As promised, here’s the second installment of my series on packing more punch into your prose. In Part 1, we talked about using strong verbs, ditching the adverbs, and the benefits of active sentences. Those are essential points to keep in mind if you want to inject some life into your writing. So, this week, […]