Dear Reader, I think there’s a misconception about hiring a copywriter that may be keeping some very annoyed business owners unnecessarily annoyed. You think you need to have A Project. A new website. A brand overhaul. An email campaign. Something substantial enough to warrant Bringing In A Copywriter. You don’t. You don’t need to do a gut reno of your website if changing the curtains will do. Maybe your website is basically fine, but the opening no longer explains what you do. Maybe your...

Dear Reader, My friend Carrie Flynn of Virtual Simplicity has a phrase I’ve loved since the first time I heard her use it: Random acts of marketing. It’s how she describes all those disconnected marketing things businesses do without a larger strategy tying them together. And it’s perfect. Four words. Immediately understandable. Entirely Carrie. That’s the kind of language I listen for when I’m talking with someone about their business. Carrie wasn’t trying to come up with a clever tagline...

Dear Reader, Ask someone to describe their brand voice, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll hear some combination of: Warm. Professional. Approachable. Well, sure. You’re surely not going to say you want to sound cold, unapproachable, and meaner than bull briar. Those words tell me how you want people to experience you. They don’t tell me what it sounds like to be in a room with you. That’s what I’m listening for. The phrase you keep coming back to. The story you tell when you’re trying...