Posts

Graphic showing a fix for a common copywriting mistake

Orwellian Copywriting

/in /by

Less is more.

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

Why so many advertising and public relations copywriters do this (see above) is a mystery.

We copywriters should always follow George Orwell’s third Rule for Writing –

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

If it is possible to cut a word out,
always cut it out.

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

I grabbed this screenshot from a company that wants my business and emailed me about its new and “improved” website. I kind of wish the company would hire me to help with its communication…

Purists argue the noun, impact, should never be insulted by turning it into into the verb, “impacting.” They would evoke Orwell’s sixth rule:

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

Break any of these rules
sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

These grammarians argue “impacting” is simply another example of the base, coarse, disgusting habit of “verbifying” nouns, suggesting it’s the purview of hoodlums who are too lazy to come up with what they see as a “true verb.” “Verbifying… can get a bad reputation for sounding potentially too informal…,” notes twinkle.com, a resource for teachers. 

However, in the case of impact, Merriam-Webster points out people were using it as a verb a couple of hundred years before there’s evidence of its use as a noun. So, yeah, verbifying the word is absolutely acceptable.

The purists also fail to acknowledge one of the greatest aspects of language: its evolution and resulting enrichment. “Impacting” is a common and correct usage, regardless of whether grammarians are ready to put their stamps of approval on it. If not, I wouldn’t be able to write “emailed me,” above, either. Besides, we’re talking advertising, marketing and public relations here; informality, a.k.a. familiarity, is a plus.

But enough about the sticklers.

Let’s take a look at all six of Orwell’s rules from his essay, “Politics and the English Language.” Following them will improve any copywriter’s work, or anyone’s writing, for that matter.

  1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
  2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Barbarous. What a great word.

Which is where I started this short essay, with words. Writing fewer, that is. Full stop.

 

 

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Stock image for outsourcing

Brand Story: 10 Reasons to Work with FredComm

/in /by

it’s your business. it’s your story. let’s tell it well.

 

  1. Focus on Your Strengths
    There’s no need to steal time and energy from your passion and core competency. Instead, benefit from a great brand story without taking your eye off the ball. Listen, you’re great at what you do. Why not hire someone who is great at strategic messaging development, copywriting and content creation for advertising, marketing, public relations and social media?
  2. You’re Too Busy
    Isn’t everyone? Let me take that copywriting or content creation project off your plate, get it done well and give it back to you, ready to go.
  3. Copywriting Is Not Like Other Writing
    Anyone can string words together, but few can effectively copywrite. Advertising, marketing and promotional materials require specialized experience and expertise, and Fredricks Communications has it.
  4. Fresh Perspective
    You’re close to your business or institution, as you should be. But maybe you’re too close to give the branding and messaging a new, more objective and more effective approach. I’ll bring a fresh eye to the project and to your business.
  5. Experience
    I’ve been in advertising, marketing and advertising for a couple of decades, and I was a newspaper reporter/editor before that. I’ve served all kinds of clients, from sole proprietors to companies with hundreds of employees, that do business in my region, across the country and globally. And they keep coming back.
  6. Strategic Focus & Execution
    You need more than just a wordsmith; you need someone who can help with strategic direction, too. I’ve been building brands and strategic messaging for a long time, so I can, and do. Plus, I can do it better, faster and cheaper than a large agency with several layers of people (bottlenecks) on your account.
  7. Deadlines Are Sacred
    FredComm has a rock-solid track record for on-time delivery.
  8. Pout-Free Service
    You want someone who is easy to work with, puts ego aside, produces crisp and effective writing, and won’t make a scene if you make copy changes. That’s me.
  9. Best Team for Every Client
    I’ve worked in agencies and as part of an in-house marketing team. That background trained me to think visually and work closely with art directors and graphic designers on creative concepts, a valuable skill essential to producing strong work. With my “virtual team,” a group of talented professionals who provide complementary services like graphic design, website design, photography and so on, I’m able to deliver exceptional work without breaking your bank.
  10. Less Expense
    Some people think hiring outside talent on a project basis is expensive. In fact, the opposite is true. You get exceptional results while saving the costs of salary, benefits, and office space for an on-staff writer. Plus, the more you work with me, the more I get to know your organization, products and services, and the faster I can do every new project.

Bonus: Fun
I like to have it. So do the pros I work with. And FredComm clients appreciate it.

Let’s get started. To build an effective brand story through strategic messaging development, copywriting, content creation and all the associated services that lead to advertising, marketing and public relations success, get in touch today.

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

Tip Tuesday – Work Without With

/in , /by

Some rules are made to be broken.

Sometimes rules are made to be broken. That’s often the case when you’re talking about “proper” grammar vs. advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting. And it’s definitely the case when using “proper” will undermine “effective.”

Consider these two sentences:

  • I will provide Fredricks Communications with access to my Google drive.
  • I will provide Fredricks Communications access to my Google drive.

Get rid of that proposition, “with,” and nothing really changes. People still get it, and the sentence is shorter. And those who pay any attention to this blog know I push brevity as Rule #1 for clarity and keeping hold of readers’ short attention spans.

According to several “proper” grammar sources like the English learning website VOA, “with” is necessary:

With is a preposition, and the verb provide has two different subcategorization frames:

  • Provide somebody with something. – The recipient of the thing (Fredricks Communications) is the indirect object.
  • Provide something (to somebody). – The thing provided (access) is the indirect object.

Subcategorization frames? Recipients? Prepositions? Indirect objects?

Clear as mud in the eye to your average Joe.

Here’s the important point – nobody cares, except your former English teachers. And, with all due respect, they never had to sell a widget.

You and me and our bosses and clients care about selling that widget, and we know we need lively, engaging copy to do it. So keep your copy clear, keep it brief and work without with in your advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting.

 

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Oct. 9, 2018

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

Tip Tuesday – Is Your PR Writing Overqualified?

/in , /by

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

Like using qualifiers? A lot of them, perhaps? As professional copywriters, we need to do a little better.

That’s the advice of Stunk & White, authors of the bibles on grammar and style.

In “The Elements of Style,” William Strunk and E.B. White put it eloquently: “Rather, very, little, pretty – these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words.”

Harsh, even without the vampire imagery. Harsh, but right on.

Besides, copywriters should always cut unnecessary words. It’s the “Less-Is-More Principle.”

Which has more life?

  • “It’s rather important to be honest. vs. “It’s important to be honest.
  • “We’re very excited about this product.” vs. “We’re excited about this product.”
  • “I’m pretty sure I gave you the right medication.” vs. “I’m sure I gave you the right medication.”

This isn’t a life vs. death deal – except maybe in that last example – but for a prospective client, neither is hiring you. Take the advice of Strunk & White for your public relations writing:  be a life-giver, not a leech; throw the qualifiers back into the mucky slough.

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

Tip Tuesday – It’s Not Literally Dangerous in Copywriting, But…

/in /by

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

First, to be absolutely clear, no limbs will go flying when you use the word “literally” in your copywriting. Never in the history of the world has a written word literally caused an explosion. Except when terrorists or members of militaries write notes to each other.

Nevertheless, beware of using the word in your advertising and marketing content. Literally means something is fact, so using it to intensify a word or statement that follows is almost always incorrect.

“Our service will literally blow you away,” indicates your customers will, in fact, be lifted from their feet and tumble down the highway like so many tumbleweeds in a bad old Western when they experience your service. Or they will, in fact, be thrown back dozens of feet by a bomb blast.

Let’s be clear again. No one is going to take you seriously and expect to be lifted off of their feet, by wind, explosion or anything else.

But here’s the thing. What you’re trying to say, in a figurative way, is that your company’s service is incredible and your customers will be highly impressed and pleased.

Unfortunately, “Our service will figuratively blow you away,” doesn’t carry quite the same punch.

You just need to find a way to work that into your copy without resorting to literally or being insufferably dull.

Saying suspects, prospects or customers literally will be blown away isn’t dangerous – it won’t cause cancer and no one is going to get electrocuted – it’s just absurd. Your company won’t just look less than professional, it’ll look silly, like a company that really shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

If you see literally in your copywriting, a rewrite is in order. Seriously.

Small spacer for The Red Letter Blog posts

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

 

 

 

 

Tip Tuesday – What Advertising, Marketing or Public Relations Costs

/in /by

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

The Bridge to Everywhere

 

Everyone asks the question. “What’s it gonna cost?” for <this or that advertising, marketing or public relations service>?”

Few are ever happy with the answer – “That depends.”

But it’s the most honest response, even if it is lacking precision.

Asking a creative firm, “How much is it going to cost to get a (your need here),” is like asking a construction company, “How much is it going to cost to build a bridge over the Red River?”

Neither the creative agency nor the construction company will be able to provide a reasonably accurate answer before finding out precisely what you want to get done and defining the scope of the work it’ll take to get you there.

A colleague recently gave the best answer I’ve heard in nearly two decades in this business:

“Somewhere between affordable and optimal.”

I understood precisely what she meant.

Ask me the question, and I’ll ask you a bunch more. We’ll talk. We’ll hash over the big picture. We’ll go back and forth on the details.

I’ll recommend advertising, public relations, online marketing, blog posts or a combination of those and a bunch of other communication tools, whatever I believe will build the best bridge between you and your customers or prospects. Then I’ll tell you what it’s going to cost. The number will be somewhere between affordable and optimal (good-better-best, anyone?), and I’ll stick to it, no matter how much time it takes me to do the job well.

Learn more about FredComm pricing.

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

 

Tip Tuesday – In Order to Achieve Greater Impact…

/in /by

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

To be more concise and effective, always edit out “in order” and simply leave “to” in your advertising, marketing and public relations writing.

 

You’ll improve the impact, the POP!, of your writing without changing meaning almost every time.

Example:

  • In order to achieve invigorating writing, use active voice.
  • To achieve invigorating writing, use active voice.

Example:

  • We provide technical training in order to increase your efficiency and reduce overall costs.
  • We provide technical training to increase your efficiency and reduce overall costs.

But what about that pesky “almost” above?

Purists will spew some grammar mumbo-jumbo about how “in order to” is a subordinating conjunction. Huh? They’ll also say that when you drop “in order” you lose the underlying meaning of the phrase, which more clearly conveys intent than “to” alone. Your intent is to achieve invigorating writing, they’d say, and “in order to” conveys that more clearly. Same goes for the desire to increase efficiency.

They’re right. After all, they’re purists; being right is their job.

But who the heck even knows what a subordinating conjunction is. Right? Plus, here’s the thing –

Randomly ask 100 people which is more correct in those situations – “to” or “in order to” – and I’ll bet 99.99 percent of them won’t know the difference. Or give a rat’s patootie.

Which brings us back to Rule #2 for marketing writing: brevity.

(Rule #1 is to answer the Golden Question of Marketing – What’s in it for me?)

Dropping “in order” keeps your copy shorter, punchier.

It might not seem like much,  but over the course of a longer brochure or training video, dropping the two extra words makes a difference.

If you’re writing a novel or an in-depth assessment of foreign affairs, by all means, write “in order to.” I don’t want you starting any wars because the intent of your sentences wasn’t absolutely clear.

Otherwise, go with “to,” especially in advertising, marketing and public relations.

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

 

Tip Tuesday – In Copywriting, “Up” Gets the Thumbs Down

/in /by

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

Elevate your copywriting – down with “up.”

 

All due respect to Mick and the rest of The Stones, but I do not want you to start me up. More specifically, I don’t want to see the phrase “start up” in any advertising, marketing or PR materials. In Mick’s words, it’s enough to “…make a grown man cry.” (Well, this one, anyway.)

For some reason, we Midwesterners love to add “up” to “start whenever we can:

  • I wandered over to start up a conversation.  /  I wandered over to start a conversation.
  • We started up deliveries in the southern part of the city about a month ago.  /  We started deliveries in the southern part of the city about a month ago.
  • There’s a dude in a mask with a chainsaw coming! Start up your car and let’s get aych-e-double-toothpicks outta here!  /  There’s a dude in a mask with a chainsaw coming! Start your car, and let’s get aych-e-double-toothpicks outta here!

In each case, dropping the “up” makes the sentence shorter. (We’ll tackle the overuse of exclamation points in another Tuesday Tip, mmmmmmm-k?) The only time “start” and “up” should show up as a pair is when they form a compound adjective – “It’s a start-up venture.” And, let’s face it, the only place it has to go is up.

There’s no downside to dropping “up” from your advertising, marketing and public relations copywriting. I’d lose that if I were you.

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Tip Tuesday – You Might Be Fortunate to Read This Communication Tip on Writing…

/in , /by

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

But it is not fortuitous.

 

When writing copy, be careful with the words fortuitous and fortunate.

Fortuitous events happen by chance, randomly. While they need not be fortunate events, they often are, e.g., “It was purely fortuitous that the meter reader came along less than a minute after I returned to my car.”

Although fortunate events may be fortuitous, they might not be, e.g., “I was fortunate to return to my car just before the meter reader came around on his top-of-the-hour pass.”

When you mean random and unlucky, write random or one of its synonyms – accidental, haphazard, arbitrary, unplanned, unintentional. When you mean random and lucky, write fortuitous. When you mean lucky, write fortunate. Better yet, just use plain ol’ lucky to be sure everyone knows what you mean.

 

Graphic icon for Fredricks Communications

Adapted from “Common Errors in English Usage,” by Paul Brians.

Tip Tuesday – Listen Up!

/in , /by

Old-style ink pen writing "Tip Tuesday" on paper

10 Things Your Marketing Copywriter Should Do When Learning About Your Business

 

One of the most underrated skills for a writer – especially a marketing copywriter, content creator or PR specialist – is listening.

Marketing copywriter, how can you help sell a business, organization, product, service or cause if don’t fully understand it? You can’t.

Business or organization owner, manager or leader, how can you effectively sell your product, service or cause if your copywriter, content creator or PR specialist doesn’t understand what you have to offer your target markets? You can’t, either.

You need to get down to answers to these questions, and I mean Get Down!

  • What are the benefits of working with you?
  • What pain points will your product or service solve?
  • How much time and/or money will members of your target market save or earn with your product or service?
  • Above all, how will they ever be able to answer the Golden Question of Marketing (GQM) – What’s in it for me?

To craft answers to these questions and create a messaging strategy that compels your target markets to action, your copywriter, content creator or PR specialist first needs to listen. They need to do it:

  • Closely.
  • Carefully.
  • Actively.

As for you marketing copywriters, here are 10 things you should do when gathering information:

  1. Clear your mind.
  2. Maintain eye contact with the speaker, whether it’s a one-on-one session with the CEO or a group dialogue with the leadership and sales teams.
  3. Focus, focus, focus on what is being said.
  4. Ask follow-up questions. (Coincidentally, this is where you’re most likely to find the gold for the GQM.)
  5. Request clarification. Never be afraid to say, “I don’t understand.”
  6. Rephrase what you hear and say it back to the speaker so you’re sure you fully understand, e.g., “So what you’re saying is…. Is that correct?
  7. Think about the implications of what someone says about one aspect of the business to other aspects, and ask about it.
  8. Ask the speaker to repeat something if you missed it.
  9. Never, ever spend the time while your subject is speaking thinking about what you’re going to ask next.
  10. Close with a question like, “Is there anything I haven’t I asked you but should have?” or “Is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to?”

So, listen…

Copywriter, content creator or PR specialist, if you aren’t doing these things, start. Business owner or organization leader, if the person crafting your messages isn’t interacting with you and your staff this way, find someone new.