When I sing the praises of short-form copy, I often get pushback.
Particularly from some of my fellow copywriters.
I’m told that short copy isn’t up to the job.
For the tough jobs… the heavy lifting… only long copy works.
I’m not so sure.
I think short copy can also get the job done.
In fact, I think some of the most powerful copy is really, really, short.
We’re all guilty of rushing when writing web content.
Well, I am. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone!
A 500-word blog post? Maybe I can get that done before my meeting at 11:00. Or I’ll squeeze it in before finishing up at the end of the day.
It’s weird, because we rarely think the same about writing a more “important” page, like a sales page.
But… your content pages ARE important.
Read the full post…5 Simple ways to improve every page of content you create.
Over the years I’ve written a lot about writing headlines.
I even teach a course on the subject.
But of all the tips I share, I have three favorites.
In fact, these are the tips – or filters – I use myself when trying to improve my own headlines.
Let’s get started…
Edelman is a communications agency, well known for what it calls its “trust barometer”.
They track the public’s levels of trust when it comes to business, the media, institutions and government.
As you can imagine, the results over the last few years don’t paint a pretty picture. Trust levels overall are down.
Even while people are looking to inform themselves with the latest news, Edelman reports that 73 percent are worried about fake news being used as a weapon.
And we need look no further than companies like VW and Facebook to understand why our trust in companies and large corporations is being eroded.
So… what is one to do?
Read the full post…4 Ways to earn and maintain the trust of your audience.
I’ve been writing posts for this site for over 15 years now… and I’ll continue to do so… occasionally.
But for two or three years now I have been spending most of my time on a whole new project and website.
This is a real passion project for me. It’s something I’ve been leading up to for decades.
And it comes with a full-length course.
What’s this new project of mine?
Over the last few days I have had the opportunity to read through dozens of homework assignments from one of my courses.
This particular assignment was to write a blog post about foods that are good for brain health.
As always, it was a real education going through everyone’s work. The overall quality of writing was excellent. And it was amazing to see all the different approaches people took.
Different writers showed different strengths.
Some wrote amazing headlines. Some were particularly strong with the introduction, clearly setting up what was to come in the body of the post. Others were strongest when it came to the main part of the post, where they were talking about the health benefits of various foods and food groups.
But…
Read the full post…Every blog post you write needs to finish with a gift. Ribbons too.