Copywriting
How to Write a Headline for a News Article
How to Write a Headline for a News Article is half art and half science. “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written the headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar . If you haven’t done some selling in your…
Read MoreHow to Write Catalog Copy that Sizzles
Catalog copy writing is an important task for many companies who sell their products and services through on-line or printed catalogs. There’s a constant demand for top-notch catalog writers whose copy move merchandise. Is there a short and sweet way of writing good catalog copy that sizzles? Yes, there is. Here is a unique ADJECTIVE PAIRING METHOD I’ve…
Read More5 Methods to Finish What You’ve Started to Write
(Copyright-free photo courtesy of unsplash-dot-com) © Ugur Akinci Finishing an article, a book or a presentation is as important as starting to write it. The enemies of half-finished writing projects are many. So are your “friends”. Here are five time-tested ideas to finish all your writing projects on time and in good shape. 1)…
Read MoreThe biggest myth about content marketing
(Copyright-free photo by Grovemade at Unsplash-dot-com) © Bob Bly Don’t get me wrong….I am a big fan of content marketing — marketing based on dissemination of free information that is useful and interesting to prospects. I use content marketing all the time for myself and my clients … and have been doing so for over 3 decades. But, in an…
Read MoreHow to Write Direct Mail or Marketing Copy for Dentists
Dentists spend a lot of money on advertisement. Especially in large metropolitan centers where competition among medical service providers is high, dental professionals send a lot of direct mail pieces to residential addresses and/or place advertisements and commercials in all kinds of media. Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry practitioners are prime targets among all dentists for…
Read MoreWatch Your Misplaced Modifiers — Importance of Positioning in English Sentences
Just like in life, positioning is important in writing as well. Place the wrong modifier in the wrong spot, and the meaning of your whole sentence changes and you end up creating the wrong impression for no good reason at all. Sometimes even professional writers writing for important publications fall into this trap. Here is…
Read MoreTechnical versus Content Writing
Technical versus content writing — are they the same or different? The answer is YES and NO. It is similar to content or article writing in the sense that you need to create prose that is easily understood, logically consistent, and conveys useful information. Where it separates from regular non-fiction writing is in its procedural…
Read MorePlain Writing Online Course
(Copyright-free photo by Nick Morrison at Unsplash dot com) © Ugur Akinci Plain Writing is not only a good idea but it’s now the law of the land in the United States since October 13, 2010. See: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/obama-signs-law-understand/story?id=11902841 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-946 Very soon all U.S. Government departments and agencies will have to produce all their documents in…
Read MoreOn the Idea of “Product Evangelist” in Technical Communications
I love product evangelists for two good reasons: (1) I love software products. I have no idea how we lived back in the 60s and 70s without any software doing all these wonderful things on our desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. (2) I like and admire the product evangelists that I’ve met both in person…
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How not to Sacrifice Clarity to Simplicity in Technical Writing
Introduction Simplicity in technical writing is a mantra frequently repeated by trainers and writing instructors. You’ve heard it many times and in general, it’s true: “Write simply. Eliminate all unnecessary words and facts from your technical writing.” Plain language is of course what we all like. But there are always exceptions in life, including this…
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