Copywriting vs Messaging

People are fuzzy on messaging. Is it just a synonym of copywriting and/or an empty buzzword? Or does it have a specific meaning and purpose?

George Washington on soloentrepeneurship

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein. In no area is this so true as messaging and copywriting. Consensus doesn’t work. This is why large consulting firms homepages are as interesting as cardboard – but smaller ones sometimes achieve snappiness. Nothing wrong with a team, tbt, but each unto their own task.      

The Transition

The most important benefit of transitioning from freelancing to consulting is finding meaning in what you do

Storytelling (Strategic)

Storytelling was originally an advertising technique but is now associated with brand strategy. It is also called, for added polish, Strategic Storytelling. This is a concept and a professional practice, as opposed to a copywriting technique. As such, it is a form of Strategic Consulting. Strategic storytelling calls for creating stories about how people experience a brand. Thus, things like features, benefits, and UVP are revealed through characters’ experience with them in a brief story rather than through, for example, bullet points. Story characters could be customers, constituents, employees, owners, execs, etc.  Other common business-world synonyms include the slightly more abstract concepts, Narrative Messaging and Strategic Narrative. 

Copy

Writing that is specifically designed to further the sales and marketing efforts of a business. Product of copywriting or thinking in terms of how words will be received

Positioning

We might think of positioning as (a) a newer concept, (b) a linear process, with start and a finish, and (c) a matter of formulaic business logic. Here are some alternative perspectives to help you position your business and its solutions

Your Digital Self

We’re moving towards leaner, rougher, more authentic marketing materials, combined with more polished (and also more authentic) remote versions of ourselves

Digital Business

In retrospect, this week was all about Coronavirus and its impact on our businesses. Digital sales and marketing just got way more important.

How express positioning as copy

It’s one thing to craft a positioning statement. But they usually read like cardboard tastes. So how do you express positioning in a way that’s effective and readable?

How to Hack a Positioning Statement

Positioning doesn’t mean you have to be a purple cow, or go viral. Or occupy a market niche over the long-term. It means you let someone else define you

How to design a creative brief

The creative brief was invented by ad agencies but it can be used for any kind of project work. The key rule: it’s not a specs doc, it’s an ideation tool

1000 Little Ideas

A compelling argument for developing the skill of ideation lies in the 1000 Little Ideas vs 1 Big Idea paradigm

Can you “write” SEO?

SEO is a market intelligence process that helps you get into the minds of the people who can help. Here’s how to turn that in to words

Upside Down Homepage UX

Turn the page upside down. Header on the bottom. Learn how this approach can improve conversions with hurting your brand integrity

Hybrid Expertise: Design, Technology, Marketing

What’s the difference, between the difference, between a UX consultancy, a digital ad agency, and a tech consulting firm?  In my opinion, less than we think. All digital services firms should offer a hybrid mix of creative, technological, and marketing expertise.

The Ethics of Psychodynamic Marketing

Harry Browne’s definition of profit is selling happiness. in his book Secret of Selling Anything, he explores how the art of persuasion need not be a “dark art”

The Cannabis SEO Principle

Cannabis SEO consultants are in high demand all of a sudden. Why? Because you can’t advertise the stuff, so organic is the path

David Ogilvy’s Secret Weapon

David Ogilvy’s secret was a book about direct response marketing called “Tested Advertising Methods”, by John Caples. Make Ogilvy’s secrets your own

How To Get New Ideas

In the book, A Technique for Producing Ideas, author James Webb Young lays out an ideation method that is “as definite a process as the production of Fords.”