Some words and phrases litter our emails, socials and even our conversations, getting in the way of clarity.These are words that should be banished. They are placeholder words we THINK make us sound better, but are not. They are sentence clutter. Cut these words from...
Making copy and content sing like a beautifully orchestrated choir is much easier if everyone sings from the same hymn book. That's where a style guide, or style manual, comes in. A style guide is the hymn book from which all contributors to a website or...
There’s nothing like company culture – especially communications around company culture – to elicit an emotional response. Weasel words, power games and employees who are plain old dibber dobbers tend to destroy a company’s value creation. Inc.com has just published Elon Musk’s all-staff email titled “Communication Within...
“Content is king.” If you spend enough time in SEO circles, you’ll be overfamiliar with this phrase. But what does it mean? How can content help you rank well on the Google? Why Is Digital Content Marketing Important for SEO? A lot of SEO revolves around trying...
Stories are like drugs. Truly. There is empirical research to prove the human brain is glued to stories, due mostly to the release of the feelgood hormone oxytocin. So if the identity of a brand is the sum of the stories told about it, then it...
Persuasive copywriting the craft of convincing people to try or buy whatever it is that you have to sell. Brand storytelling is the art of elevating persuasive copywriting into a consistent series of stories that becomes a platform for a business or brand – something I...
The beauty of words - and the joy of copywriting - is how fluid and adaptable the English language really is. The downside is that words are powerful tools to give the wrong impression. I innocently asked my kids whether they thought my brand new shirt...
"OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS. Shorter is better," was the mantra I was taught by the crusty subeditors I worked with at newspapers. And I still swear by it everyday (even though I break other rules by starting my sentences with 'And'). Twitter is adding functionality to double...
I only write this for love. Not money. This article will not make me one cent. You see, the internet is filled with people who make content everyday for nothing. There's people like me who love to write and publish for the fun of it. And...
Data doesn’t lie. Facebook isn’t delivering the engagement it once did for brands and publishers who spend time and money maintaining a Facebook presence, according to content marketing tool Buzzsumo. “The average number of engagements with Facebook posts created by brands and publishers has fallen by...