Working with virtual marketing professionals.
I’m virtual, you’re virtual, we’re all virtual. The Internet first appeared in the late 1980s but wasn’t fully commercialized (the World Wide Web we now know) until 1995. Less than 20 years ago. Yet we...
View ArticleAre you paying for plagiarism?
That question up in the headline could mean several things, and could be taken several ways … I mean all of them: Are you promoting plagiarism in your content by using the cheapest possible provider?...
View ArticleEt tu, Hugh Laurie?
This really bugs me. There are things that bother all of us, gnaw at us in small ways, like gnats. It’s like that for me whenever I hear grammatical laziness – grammatical gaffs that are allowed to...
View ArticleBeing an idiot used to be a good thing.
Yes, languages are slowly going to hell. The original meaning of “idiot” was derived from the Greek term for “individual,” which came from the Greek for “private person.” When someone was called an...
View ArticleSuspension of disbelief.
That’s what it takes for movies to work. Without our granting movie-makers “suspension of disbelief,” we could hardly enjoy the moment when it seems that the bad guy has gotten away alone on a plane,...
View ArticleWhat New Year’s really means.
Guess what: our calendar is only 431 years old. While most people using the Western/Gregorian calendar might understandably assume that our calendar is now 2,014 years old, that just ain’t so. It is in...
View ArticleWhat sports announcers do to our language.
Calling the plays, murdering the language. Most of us have heard and likely used such expressions “legalese” and/or “corporate-speak” to describe (maybe excuse) the mangled language that comes out of...
View Article“Pay the writer.”
We’re professionals, and consultants. The title of this post comes from a wonderful Harlan Ellison YouTube rant that’s taken from the documentary about him, Dreams with Sharp Teeth. I looked for it...
View ArticleWhy writers get hired.
The hardest part of writing is knowing where to start. Can anyone write? Probably. Can anyone write well? Clearly not. Everyone’s writing these days – e-mails, online posts … even reviews, lord help...
View ArticleShow the solution, not the problem.
Marketing is about benefits, not claims. The most successful marketing is done by people who know that we only show the solution, and never the problem. Want an example? There’s a local dentist whose...
View ArticleMarketing isn’t a shouting match.
The Web has set marketing back 150 years. One of the side-effects of the World Wide Web is a plethora of do-it-yourself advertising that often looks as unsophisticated as the earliest days of...
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So who is your target audience, anyway?
To spend your marketing dollars wisely, you need wise marketers. People who are experienced, knowledgeable and self-confident will tell clients when something they ask for is not a good idea … from a...
View ArticleElements of branding, part one.
Branding baby steps. The idea of “branding” may sound formidable to many companies – a daunting new task for marketing to add to its plate. I can make it simple for you. A company’s brand is ultimately...
View ArticleElements of branding, part two.
Yeah, branding is not really brand new. Some marketing folk talk about “branding” as if it’s something new. But even the most cursory look will tell you that branding is merely a repackaging of the...
View ArticleIs the Internet serving you, or using you?
It has completely changed our lives. The Internet is one of the greatest boons to come along since the invention of the automobile. The automobile set us free to roam the roads. The Internet has set us...
View ArticleAll old people have been young. No young people have been old.
The challenge of marketing to young people. The credit for that truism up there belongs to Andrew Solomon of The New Yorker. It raises some interesting considerations on market segmentation and the...
View ArticleIs “Web design” an oxymoron?
Where Web designers fall short. Ever since the mass migration of advertising, marketing and public relations to electronic media, things have changed on the design front. Working as a writer with...
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