Do you want to write copy that isn’t long and circuitous? Copy that isn’t turgid? Copy that isn’t dull? Let’s try that again … Do you want to write copy that’s short and sharp? That’s energetic? That’s exciting? Do you see what just happened there? So often I see things expressed in terms of what
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If you’ve hired a PR consultant and you’re not getting the coverage you want, have you considered that you might be the problem? I write content for a variety of PR practitioners, and I see it over and over again – a really good release ruined by the client’s input. Because clients don’t understand the
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I’ll write most things – I have written most things. But with apologies to Meat Loaf, there are some writing requests I get, that make me sing: “… but I won’t write that”. Usually these fall into the category of other people wanting me to do the intellectual work they should be doing – I’ve
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In seven seconds you can butter two slices of bread. You can do five push-ups. You can make your bed. You can tie your shoes. Seven seconds. That’s all the time you have to grab the reader, listener or watcher’s attention when it comes to your content. Whether you’re making a video, drafting an email,
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I have bad news for you: your content will never be perfect. It can be excellent. It can better than all of your competitors’ content. It will never be perfect. Why? Because first, writing is a craft, not a science – you can tinker with something almost indefinitely, and you will always be able to
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I have a colleague who’s noticed an interesting thing – his Gen Z kids don’t distinguish between digital and traditional media. To them it’s all media, and those of us in the business of content need to take note. Consumers aren’t worrying about where they read or watch something. They simply consume the content, and
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Find the news – and if there isn’t any, abandon that press release. Yes, you heard me. Put it in the bin. The reason your press releases aren’t getting any traction in the mainstream media isn’t because you’re not trying hard enough. It isn’t because journalists are mean (although, given how often you nag them,
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There’s a common mistake local influencers and content writers make – and I can spot it a mile away. Many don’t “localise” the content – they retain words, spellings and phrases that aren’t used in South Africa. When I see that, I simply plug the text into Google, and up pops the original. Localising content
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The world runs on email, but you don’t want it to run you. And yet, your inbox is overflowing. Enter what I call the email paradox – which is to say that if you want to receive less email, one way to tame the inflow is to answer the mails you receive. Think about how
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It’s always worth looking through old content and seeing if you can use it again. To freshen it up, try these three tricks: Take pieces that make more than one point, and rework each of those points into a separate, short and sharp future post. Give old posts a good edit – sometimes just cutting
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