Is not is: Capitalize Correctly, aka Rules for Copywriters

Is not is: Capitalize Correctly, aka Rules for Copywriters

I love that so many young people are making a living as copywriters, whether working as freelancers or in-house. But…quite a few of you could use a reminder about how to capitalize correctly when writing headlines and the like! So let’s take a quick dive into the rules you need to know… How to capitalize correctly Since you’ll be writing headlines, titles, headings, subheadings and the like, let’s quickly talk about how to capitalize correctly, because details count. To do it correctly, capitalize every: Noun Verb Adjective...
The Worst Way to Write a Marketing Email? The Wishy Washy Way

The Worst Way to Write a Marketing Email? The Wishy Washy Way

I must be in a mood, because this example of crappy copywriting has me riled. Do you see why? Do you see what’s wrong with this sentence? For context, it’s from an Amazon marketing email: “We wanted to let you know you left something in your cart.” Answer? It’s wishy washy to the point of passive, oh my! And this is not how you write a marketing email. The email says, “We wanted to…” and I think, “OK, whatever,” as the customer who received the email. “We” is all about them. I, as a typical consumer, am all about me....
Lessons in Copywriting: How to Improve a Marketing Email

Lessons in Copywriting: How to Improve a Marketing Email

A lot of marketing emails suck. I think that’s largely because email marketing is so easy to do…and that makes it so easy to do poorly. Even those emails sent out by big companies fall short. Why? Because too many of them are written from the marketer’s perspective, and that’s a turnoff for a prospect. So here’s help: If you’re a freelance copywriter or a marketer, read on for an example of a typical marketing email (names changed to protect the innocent) and my critique of it. This was an email that a client was using as the first...
Word Puking, or How to Say Nothing While Wasting Time and Losing Customers

Word Puking, or How to Say Nothing While Wasting Time and Losing Customers

I’m a little irritated, as you’ll see as you read this post. Why? Because I’ve come across another example of worthless writing that makes all of us who care look bad. As the amount of information inundating us daily continues to increase and our ability to pay attention to it continues to decrease, it becomes ever more important to communicate well…if we want to communicate at all. This is especially true when writing at work as well as writing for sales. Yet I continue to see countless examples of what I call word puking. What is...
Electrify Your Writing at Work with Rhythm

Electrify Your Writing at Work with Rhythm

Why do you write at work? Your answer might be “I write at work because I have to use email,” or “I write at work because it’s part of my job” or something similar. But is any of that really the reason why? Nope. The real reason why you write at work is to inform, persuade or even convince someone, be that a coworker, boss, stakeholder, prospect, customer, vendor or someone else. But to do any of that, your writing first has to get read. Because you can’t inform anyone if they don’t read what you wrote, can you? And how do you get...
Email Marketing? Be on Your Best Behavior in Every Inbox

Email Marketing? Be on Your Best Behavior in Every Inbox

When I was a kid, I remember my father, exasperated with traffic while we were driving somewhere, saying people who are polite in person are rude when driving because they have the anonymity of the car. Someone who would never cut in front of you in line at the bank, he argued, would cut you off in traffic without batting an eye because of this anonymity. I think about his comment when confronted with rude drivers, but also when confronted with email marketing. At times, it seems as if email marketers take the car approach, doing...