One of my clients, the chief of an ad agency, was wary of offering ‘guesstimates’ on projects before he could actually run the numbers. (The projects typically ranged from 50K to 100K.) When clients insisted, when they pressed him for a ‘ballpark’, he would laugh it off with: “Less than a million. For sure.” […]
Think what you will about my ambition and aspirations, but no, I don’t want my own agency. “Kania,” they say, “You’ve been a writer since forever. Time to move up.” “Launch your own creative firm, your own consultancy, some clever startup.” Sheesh, no. I would be hilariously incompetent at that. Perhaps even criminally incompetent. […]
Hey, it’s me. But you probably know that. This is not a complaint, mind you. Only an observation. I notice you haven’t been around lately. Maybe a month? Or two. That is your call of course. You can bestow, or not. As you please. I get it. (Am I allowed to address you directly? I heard […]
This text, ironically, comes from a 1,700-word article on writing shorter emails. The simple solution to a shorter email is to leave out the needless parts, as Strunk and White says. Before: “There are plenty of other benefits to writing short emails as well. If you send someone a very long email, there is a […]
A client half a world away asked me to figure out how to talk about a line of cookware she was planning import into her country. The brand had no name recognition, no prestige status, no particular price advantage. So she wanted to market it as the ideal line for new cooks, people who were […]
To me, it’s very telling that buyers rely more on customer reviews than on the official marketing copy. They read the reviews on Amazon, the reviews on the online sites. They seem to look for what others say. And trust it. Not because the reviews are unbiased and impartial. Most reviews are highly opinionated, sometimes […]
This is one of the more useful ideas I have ever stolen. It’s a clever way to make sure your messaging is pointed in the right direction. And more cosmically, this notion can help you clarify what business you’re in, exactly. Which I tend to forget myself. This gem of an idea comes from Kathy […]
This may sound like a goofy waste of time. Like some self-helpy nonsense. It certainly sounds like that to me. But hear this out. I have stuck with this quirky practice for a surprisingly long time. And I never stick with anything for long, especially if it’s supposed to make you healthy or more productive. […]
Marina runs a graphics and signage agency that is doing well, but she felt a bit stuck as ‘just another agency.’ They are smart and skillful, and have access to all the latest signage tech. She has an attractive portfolio of installations. But so do most of the other agencies in town. And they all […]
One of my clients is trying to entice more employees to tune into the company’s live-streamed exec forums and conferences. What seems to work, so far at least, is tucking small pitches into the Outlook invites: “Watching this is actually considered working, so . . .” And, “Not like the one from Q1.” And “Will […]
You can build an entire speech around one line. One line that you would love to say aloud, from the podium, just once. A line you would love to be known for. Something you have been itching to say. A line that makes you a bit nervous. Or maybe a truth that everyone knows, but doesn’t admit. […]
This has gotten me into a trouble a few times. But not the way you’d think. Recent example. A marketing firm sent me to interview a few product managers as background for web content. The meeting went well. I got exactly what I needed. On my way back to the office, my client called me, […]
It’s easy to think that writing a speech is mainly about the words. As if the idea is to craft silken phrases that roll off the tongue, and make the audience chuckle in appreciation, or nod in agreement, or rise up against injustice. Or at least make them eager to hire you. (All of which […]
Ordinarily, the simpler your marketing message, the better. Except when there are other sensibilities involved. Which, in this case, I missed. The back story: The client was a financial company. They were about to unveil a brand-new, elegantly designed billing statement. For them, this was a big deal. The company’s video producer asked me […]
1. We marketers must learn to be fascinating and interesting. If no one reads the content, we’re not selling anything. And customers usually have a different idea of what’s interesting. 2. Copy should sound like one human being talking to another. Not like a corporation addressing a demographic or market vertical. 3. The less your […]
They may eject me from the from the underground writers union for revealing this. We like to keep this stuff secret, hoping that more people will hire us for the heavy lifting. But here goes, anyway. 1. Delete your first paragraph Get to the good stuff faster. Forget the preamble, the context-setting, the background, the […]
Some rules of thumb. With a Dixon Ticonderoga 2/HB (Black) pencil I can fill three pages of a standard 8×5 steno pad on a single sharpening — if I wield it gingerly. That’s equivalent to two pages of a standard 8.5 x 11 lined pad. A single pencil is good for four hours of actual writing time, […]
Ingenious: Fan letters to the non-famous.
This isn’t about writing fan letters to famous people. It’s about sending fan letters to people who never get fan letters. (Which is most of us on the planet.) And therein lies the magic. Especially if you do it right. (More about that in a second.) By a ‘fan letter’ I mean a simple note […]