The golden rule of online writing
Get to the point quickly when you write blog posts and online articles. Don’t mess about, get right to the heart of the matter. Read most newspaper reports and you get the gist of the story by reading...
View ArticlePlain English Donald Rumsfeld style
One of the things you can rely on to lighten up your day is to listen to the news conferences of politicians. What they do with the English language is a marvel. At home, we have our very own Kevin...
View Article7 copywriting tips from Keith Richards
I’ve just finished reading Keith Richard’s autobiography, Life. The Rolling Stone guitarist and founding member, the one they call the most ‘elegantly wasted’ man in the world, did not disappoint. The...
View ArticleHow to write about benefits and not features
Recently I had a conversation with a sales person in one of the big electronic stores here in Brisbane. The young man (why are they always men and not women?) waxed on about the wonderful features of...
View ArticleCopywriting tips from the world of Internet dating
I gave Internet dating a go once. Why not, seemed an okay way to meet women, and a lot better than propping up a bar or having a second cousin introduce you to the sister of a friend of a colleague....
View ArticleHow to write website copy for your primary user
When you write copy for your website, first ask yourself: who is my primary user? Defining your primary user will help resolve what content to put on your site, the tone and style of web copy, and the...
View ArticleUpdating your website: the key to building traffic and SEO
When was the last time you updated your website? For many small to medium sized businesses it’s a fair bet the answer would either be: ‘not for awhile’ or ‘never’. So many websites are built and left...
View ArticleWrite for your customers not just for search engines
There’s a lot written about the need to write and publish web content to optimise your website for search engines. I agree with this view. Your chances of moving up the Google ranking depend largely on...
View ArticleHow to write copy like Warren Buffett
One of the world’s most famous and successful investors is an advocate of plain English. His name: Warren Buffett. I wasn’t aware of this until I came across a preface he wrote to a document called A...
View ArticleBuzzword bingo in the workplace
Anyone who has spent a couple of days in a corporation would know how boring, insufferable and interminable many meetings are. The worse part of course is tolerating the gobbledygook, jargon and...
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