You can handle the truth

Do you believe everything you read? Do you trust statistics? Do you casually accept the interpretation of surveys and those that report them as unbiased?

Me either.

Why is that? Could it be because we’ve been mislead too often; burned too many times?

I suspect so. We’ve all come to understand that individuals and groups with a particular agenda choose to dissect data or select certain portions of a study that supports their philosophy and present that information as the complete picture. Generally, what they fail to convey is the numbers are only a slice of the pie. They’ve skewed the truth in their favor.

It’s disingenuous and it fosters mistrust.

Consider the damage it does to your company and your brand when you ask a copywriter to make an unsubstantiated claim to close a gap or secure a competitive advantage. The truth will eventually emerge, and your reputation will be smeared. Customers may walk. Partners too.

So why risk your reputation? Take the high road. Win because your product or service is superior and your customer service puts your competitors to shame. You’ll protect your honor and the dignity of all, including copywriters, who are working vigorously to ensure your product and company succeeds.

LiveJournal Tags: statistics,survey results,brand,brand reputation,copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging

I know a ton…and you can weigh it

Pop quiz: What is a ton?

If you said it is a number that expresses a quantity, go to the stool in the corner and put on the dunce cap. If you answered that it is a unit of weight or volume, congratulations, you may go clap the erasers.

One of my pet peeves is the rampant misuse of the word “ton”. It is commonly employed as an adjective describing a unit of quantity:

“There were tons of people at the ball game.” So exactly how many people is a ton?

“The networking group gave me a ton of ideas.” How many ideas did you get?

“I miss my wife a ton.” You better be sure people understand you miss your wife a lot, not that you preferred her when she was the size of a whale.

“It hurt a ton.” I don’t understand. It hurt how much?

Sorry folks, ton is NOT a quantity. Ton is a noun that describes a unit of weight and a unit of volume. From Dictionary.com:

ton – noun

1. a unit of weight, equivalent to 2000 pounds (0.907 metric ton) avoirdupois (short ton) in the U.S. and 2240 pounds (1.016 metric tons) avoirdupois (long ton) in Great Britain.

2. Also called freight ton. a unit of volume for freight that weighs one ton, varying with the type of freight measured, as 40 cubic feet of oak timber or 20 bushels of wheat.

3. metric ton.

4. displacement ton.

5. a unit of volume used in transportation by sea, commonly equal to 40 cubic feet (1.13 cu. m) (shipping ton or measurement ton).

We do see the word ton used correctly at bridge crossings and in elevators or lifts informing us how much weight these structures can support. In truth, though, most of us never have a use for the word.

Unless you work in the fashion industry:

ton – noun

1. high fashion; stylishness.

2. the current fashion, style, or vogue.

Wait, it’s not just a unit of weight or volume? That news to me. I’m having difficulty envisioning how to elegantly inject the word into a fashion statement. So I won’t (where’s that dunce cap).

Somehow, I doubt ton is ever uttered by teens when discussing wardrobes, except perhaps in a disparaging manner:

“Her dresses make her look like she weighs a ton.” 

Well there you go: this example is a proper use of ton albeit in a highly improper way.

LiveJournal Tags: ton,pet peeve,noun,adjective,definition,copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications communications,social media writer,blogging

The long and short of it

I’m curious if long form copy still has a place in advertising and marketing communications. Attention spans are short. There’s an overabundance of information and scads of delivery vehicles: email, Twitter, RSS feeds, digital news media, curators, and social media applications all peppering us with news and noise every waking minute. 

Just the other day, I raved in a blog post about how Twitter and other communications apps spark creativity because of the severe limits they put on copywriters. Long form copy demands another skill; the ability to tell a story. The narrative, though, must have a powerful payoff for the advertiser (sales) and the customer (a product or service that solves a problem).

I know there are some professional writers who made their name using long form copy. Arguably the best copywriter ever, Gary Halbert, didn’t shy away from long form, however, he insisted that every word had to matter and help sell the product or service.

Nowadays, it seems so few people have the time or patience to read informational, educational or sales literature. The majority want things without working for them, and that includes knowledge. Make it simple stupid. I don’t want to have to work hard to understand something. If it requires a user’s manual, it’s too complicated. It’s a plug-n-play world.

What do you think? Is long form copy short for this world?

Creative Writer for Hire
What’s Your Story? I’ll tell it for you. Long copy. Short copy. (and anywhere in-between). Contact me at briantbeasley@gmail.com

LiveJournal Tags: long form copy,Gary Halbert,David Ogilvy,Joe Sugarman,Jay Abraham,Ad Age,copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging

This copy isn’t for the birds

The copy is due. It’s almost perfect and you know it. But the vultures are outside your door. Waiting.

You sold them on the copy platform and now you have to deliver to the doubters. So you put in the extra work, laboring over every syllable. There is no bloat. Not a word is wasted. And this pleases you.

Yet the presence of those birds is unnerving, creating just a tinge of stress, raising your heart rate a tad.

Fortunately, unlike the raccoon in the trap on my neighbor’s roof, you are in control. Your superlative command of the English language and writing chops are your salvation. You present your copy and everyone loves it. Raves over it, in fact. And you smile inside.

This is what drives me as a writer. Every assignment presents a challenge, and an opportunity. The final product is an expression of myself; a representation of my unique style and way of thinking.

Confident, I thumb my nose at the vultures.

And I live to write another day.

LiveJournal Tags: copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging

I can persuade that reader in 140 characters or less

Twitter rocks. I love the application because of its character limit. Writers typically rue boundaries. Limitations constrict creativity. I disagree. Limits ignite creativity. One must really think about how to precisely craft a message so it communicates crisply and with clarity…in 140 characters or less.

I say bring it on. I embrace the challenge of conveying an idea or message in as few words as possible.

Slogans are a personal fave. As a rule they must be brief. And memorable. Most importantly, they must connect with the product or service value or benefit. Authenticity is an absolute.

Headlines jazz me, too. I love writing them. I put a lot of thought into the words I choose. I want the reader to be reeled in, to mentally think “What the heck?” or “That sounds interesting. I have to read this blog, ad, or story.”

Check out my the other posts in this blog. See if you don’t agree that I have a knack for conveying a clever and compelling message via my headlines. Then check my Twitter account. Go back several weeks and you’ll find plenty of creative tweets promoting a new post for my Something 2 Ad blog. Are my headlines and tweets persuasive? Tell me what you think.

Creative Writer for Hire
Big on ideas, strong on content and driven by results. That’s me. I’m an excellent writer and editor for print, digital and social media (including blogs). I possess an uncompromising passion for accuracy and pay acute attention to detail. Any subject matter will do. I learn quickly through inquisitiveness, immersion, intuition, initiative and interaction. I write crisp, concise and compelling copy that effectively communicates the desired message and delivers the intended response. To inquire, briantbeasley@gmail.com

LiveJournal Tags: copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging

Live to write another day

“...I mean, I just don't think I can take that kind of rejection.”
        Marty McFly, Back to the Future, 1985

Rejection. It’s a powerful word packed with energy and emotion. Reactions vary when someone faces rejection. Each situation is unique and the relationship of the parties involved often dictates the response of the aggrieved. When it’s unexpected, I think the typical response is shock or stunned silence, followed by hurt and then sadness. Sometimes, the hurt is followed by anger.

In the creative professions, rejection is as common as the cold virus and comes in as many strains. To survive, one must learn to adapt.

I recognized early in my career that people respond to your creative work like they do art. It’s very subjective. It was not unusual for an idea that was dismissed as mundane or boring by the creative director to earn praise and serious consideration by the client. Ego clouded the judgment of my executives and managers. As a neophyte, it frustrated me. And it happened time after time. My peers clued me in that my ideas weren’t the problem, it was my approach. They pointed out that it was ineffective and until I changed my approach – and adjusted my attitude a tinge – I would lose many more than I’d win.

They were right.

After some introspection, I understood I needed to develop a thick skin. Second, I needed to employ my sense of humor. Finally, I became a bit more savvy in how I positioned and pitched my ideas. I learned to socialize a concept early, especially with the influencers and then the decision-makers. I enrolled the difficult personalities into the process at the beginning and gave them a sense of involvement. As people gave their support I shared the credit with influencers and others prone to block things and publicly thanked them for their contributions. Yes, it took a bit of politicking and ego stroking, but I didn’t care. I was more concerned that the best concepts were in the client pitch.

When I jumped to the client side in the enterprise software industry and joined the marketing communications team, those lessons served me well. I still had egos, a bureaucracy and politics to navigate, but it didn’t seem as daunting.  Fortunately, I enjoyed a long run of seeing my concepts, campaigns and copy being accepted. And that didn’t suck.

I’m still in the creative profession, and rejection is still a constant, but the work that is accepted more than compensates for the ideas and copy that go back into the hopper.

And I live to write another day.

LiveJournal Tags: copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging

Something to Occupy my time

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the Occupy movements in the United States. Much of my focus has been on the Wall Street and Austin Texas editions.  While neither movement has coalesced behind a cohesive strategy and set of messages, a few key themes for the anger has become evident. They include:

• the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting bank bailout
• a rigged Wall Street system
• corporate America’s power in Washington politics
• the growing disparity in executive and employee compensation
• an inequitable federal tax system
• the escalating cost of higher education
• high unemployment

What all this boils down to is the ever-widening gulf or chasm between the “haves”, dubbed the 1% by the Occupy movement, and the “have nots”, which is the rest of us. We’re known as the 99%.

Could we have foreseen this day? It seems those involved in forming our Republic had the foresight. James Madison said:

We are free today substantially but the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility. It will be impossibility because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few. A republic cannot stand upon bayonets, and when that day comes, when the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of a few, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nation to the changed conditions.

Prescient. 

So here we are; the time has come. The 99% are rising up to shake the establishment demanding reform. Within the ranks, will voices emerge that espouse the wisdom that will ultimately lead to a readjustment of the laws toward a more equitable distribution of wealth, as Madison anticipated?

This is my hope.

LiveJournal Tags: Occupy Wall Street,Occupy Austin,executive compensation,subprime mortgage crisis,bank bailouts,unfair tax code,cost of college,high unemployment,1%,99%,James Madison,copywriting,ghost writing,ad copy,freelance,marketing communications,social media writer,blogging