As the mother of a near-11-month old, Winnie-the-Pooh is a constant presence in my life these days. The other day, as I listened to my husband read The Tao of Pooh to my daughter, I came across a concept that I found could help the often deadline-pressured copywriter. In The Tao of Pooh, author Benjamin Hoff discussed “the uncarved block.” And he equated Pooh to the uncarved block - unrefined, simplistic and solid. Pooh, unlike the very “wise” owl (another Winnie-the-Pooh character, for any of you who are not familiar), does not profess... 

So many of us get so engrossed in trying to write copy that is fresh and inventive, and trying to meet deadlines and hit big picture goals, that we forget about the very basics that make marketing or SEO copy work in the first place. I found this handy little article by Laura Lake with five basic questions to ask yourself when doing any type of persuasive copy. It’s real basic stuff, but here’s a suggestion: before sending that well-polished draft to someone else in your organization for review, take 5 minutes to consider the questions she poses. Do... 

I’ve lately come across several articles written by other copywriters that I, quite frankly, have a major issue with. Clearly targeted toward small business owners with miniscule budgets, the articles that some of our fellow copywriters are crafting encourage John Q. Small Business Owner to write their own copy because it’s so incredibly “easy,” and good writing is just a matter of “practice” and misleads these poor souls into believing that writing is almost as easy and methodical as brushing your teeth. I doth protest.... 

Too many times, whether the text is written for SEO marketing, general marketing, or even entertainment, I come across copy with the main idea or message so buried that I have to read it more than once to figure it out. Here’s an awesome article by Karon Thackston on making sure your copy gets to the point and evokes emotion in the reader. Is Your Copy Upside Down? By: Karon Thackston As a professional copywriter, I’ve seen my share of copywriting mistakes. One that seems to be particularly common is writing copy that’s... 

Anyone tackling SEO copywriting faces the same hurdle as most writers do - getting started. In her article, “Creating A Search Engine Copywriting Plan,” Karon Thackston with Marketing Words Inc. offers some guidelines on how to do just that to maximize SEO efforts. It’s all pretty common sense, but good to keep around as a checklist for reference. 1) Use Three Keyphrases Per Page - Not a carved-in-stone rule, the guideline of three keyphrases per page gives good variety and helps keep the copy from sounding too repetitive. I always choose...