The social media world is in a bit of a tizzy due to Klout’s new rating system. The overall complaint is that everyone seems to have gone down in the ratings. If you were bothered by this, it might be an idea to ask yourself why. In terms of SEO and social media, what is […]
M, copywriter in Brussels
Open letter to an SEO copywriter
At least once a year, I am contacted by a customer or agency that has produced some web texts to meet SEO criteria and that wants a copywriter to brush up the text. I’ve never met SEO writers in the flesh, leaving me to wonder if it’s the designer that is doing extra work or […]
Writing e-mail messages: what do you want to achieve?
I just received an e-mail message a few minutes ago which hit my irritation button. Everyone has their pet peeves. One of mine is wasting my time with e-mail. The sender, whom I know, runs a trade fair that I am moderately interested in. So when I saw the address in the incoming mail, I […]
Four things to do before attending a trade fair
I’m currently busy preparing for a trade fair, Midem in January. So like everyone else, I spend a lot of time mining the event database looking for potential partners. I’ve done this from different sides of the table for 15 years now (both copywriting and sales), and I still see the same mistakes coming back […]
CVTrust voted “entrepreneur of the year”
Interesting to see that our customer CVTrust has picked up an award as “entrepreneur of the year” from the Belgian organisation Enterprize. We were called in to work on the website before it was launched. The service enables job seekers to authenticate their CVs once and for all in one place. Recruiters save time and […]
What makes a brand “cool”?
Britain’s Observer magazine had an interesting supplement this weekend: a list of Britain’s coolest brands. The research body Superbrands commissions an independent survey of experts and consumers to produce a yearly barometer of the coolest brands, people and places in the UK. You’ll find out more about it on their website. Car manufacturer Aston Martin […]
E-commerce is not a carrot any more
Remember e-commerce? That shiny new thing that would save business and give us all the exact coordinates of the end of the rainbow? When did it die? Or, more precisely from a copywriting point of view, when did it stop being a desirable goal of its own? Copywriters love carrots. They’re good for the eyes […]
Lessons from product naming
When will we run out of names? Although I originally got involved in product naming as an add-on feature to the business of copywriting, it really does call on very particular skills. It’s often thought of as the ultimate in creative writing, as so much is condensed into just one word. There have also been […]